fl»i 



m 




I 



I Ate and ( Iharacter 

of 

Edward ( Uiver \\ olcotf 

Late a Senator of the I nited States 

from the Stale ol ( Colorado 



homas l ; ul(on 1 )a\\ so!) 



Volume I 









•• 



CN< ttmiloN tr, (kh. Htw C«tk 



C : 



In Place ol I' 



1 rvm.-m). 

.- ■ 

with hi in II - 
Mi tfcC hall- Of 

mine ■bilitj ind n 




, /T^t^v 



.-ii.li.l Loi | 

WWM ibl • ' u T *• 1 % h.»n- 

turn wlv 

tiooi W ii- ■■'!.• • •■ P»WI< !•'■ 

and 



in PL \' I OF PREF H i: 

ir with hii 

bment for him. 




. *PlJZ 



^cA^> /> 



w I I , 

i optional force of char 

o the 

more bril 

reputation irai made ai 

• « in. ii moai commended him 

it bj 

• qui qualii • I and 

(miration and affection. 

kind, he i ai ■ man of i on* ic 

_" ii None i "ill. I be more daring 

d none moi i u! in standing 

tal quali : Drder. Hii 

-l liiillin. 

d 1 1 1 * »— t men, and i i( i<» 

!• - With a 

be would 

. I. in he irai 
w th I 

1 [i 

!i<l liis 

■ 

Willi 

and 

i. 
-lu.il iniii. II 

|...ini ol 

Ii ill. he would bare 

• known 

: i v 7 1 . ;i ■ ;thai 



l\ PI H I. O] PREI \« ! 

public DO 

in»r ! i 



/S< \ 



J in. rra-i-.l iluriii^' .ill 

ill lll.hr II 
'••! Ill 

llsh itjle, and 

i 

li i in in n. < 




w 
en in |>ub 

HUl li 

conricl 

Mr v. 

g urn. li ol 

Intin 

the ;• 

1 alone in 
form 

ami 

magnitude or ; 
Ike point li- 



IN 1'1.A< 1. OF PRE] A< 1. 

ger in publio hf«* 

itj Vi\ *aiOUe, 

ij mpethef 
alightfnl. Hli nature iraa broadlj gen 
e the pretender, he wmm gentle and 
The world aw made In 
.in f 11 1 In appreciate the 
■ 

W \ S 1 1 I N i . .• I' I 

.luii.- 28, i :'"'■'. 

\\ great loai I taring 

in the Senate, although ire had 

• pj fond "f bim. Be \\ ;i- ;i 

: i . « 'i i 1 1'- had iint onlj aeen much 

art and literature which 

i •• had manj aj mpathiei Be w ai 

. ading and obaern 

dent be made up « haterer in- maj 

.• i.\ it 1 1 unnanal rapidirj <«f 

. i ii*i in the Senate in- a?on ;> con 

■ if unnanal powi ' 'in- 

mi. i wiih .I manner 

- in moment! of ea 

beard When 

In ij - made dm • I if ■ 

.mil rictorioni 

.ni.i a hnmoT ■ in- ii never tailed 

Ml.- « M\ ll.- -Mill It, 

'nil Jnatiot '" in- remarkable natnral 

in IMIIII.M Mini 

b .it the Bar and In the 

in. i i ban eaaed 

■ Hi. 

S 




CL~&&£~*C%+~ 



l \ PL \< i "i ri:i i \< i 

I In- l - 'hal I 

rnj". *u 

i 

ml brilliant, was |H«SNMd • >' 

: be bad great wenm of humor i 
a pin 
well, i gi 

■ 



/?. 



Crutlj \JJ4VV&±JL. 



( .on ten In 



I 

I 

\ 

s 

! 

P 

r WaiU u 

■ 
in : i Hard 

\ • \ i: 

In tfc 



x N'Tl S'Tfi 

■ 

:»can Cmndidaic fur Governor— The 

..Mi- 

and Mnk< h — 

^ful 

. ■ :ler 

: tadership Lost but 

S.ck- 

Bl of 

. ; 
itical 

hie 

- . ... 

B 



Illustrations 

i 
Bnrai 

■ i •' 

. . w 
ii i; VI ,: 

i . i w 

H 

I 

Full-.. 

R H 

\tEU«'W 

w 

I 

I I .'. 
\ 1 1 . F* 

X 



>,, 



Y< >uth 



UK 



I Y 



< > u 1 1 p 



M 



,mh< " >J 



HIRIH • * I IV 

El»\\ \i;i I < >i.l\ BR WOU '• -iivit. » 

I 
Vofonteen in - 

-r.nl i fr..in II 

mil- 

ud I dm mb r of the B - in «li" tai 

- 
" 
I, 1888 

i 

rdi Mi W 

i i fe I ontribatioD ;«* all P 

onlj Approach thai he era made to ; 

but 

i 

•' 

. it \\..if 

mely, that in .T;m 
p 
in the minority lo the i 

plete the - 

B ih 



l :i.\\ \i:i» OLH EB WOLCOTT 

quenl otterance, the genial 
. ■ be animating purpose, 
>lu<! ; the stru 
te human interest thej 

' lory; 
d ■■ hranked " publications, 

m p. Wolcott'a birth, la a quiel 
b1 ing of one broad elm si 
i b a satisfactory place in a hich 
waj from a hen the life Btruggle 
return to when there la do 
uggle, ;ni«l w hen there la oof 
•i. i meditate 

■ Edward Wolcott'a father and 

abode after their marriage In 1843, 

ildesl children, Samuel Adama and Henrj 

Edward Oliver, were born; and 11 was to 

r Wolcotl and Mother Wolcotl re 

: their Uvea :ifi<-r they had 

familj aii.l eatabliahed mosl «»f Its mem 

rorld. After the return <»f tin- family, 11 was 

. favorite pla< >rl . largely . "f 

e familj were there, and also because it 

the world a world which, while 11 

• it namea a hich 1 « » 1 1 ^ had 
■ I uitli the family, bul In Edward'i case there 

i bia custom The na i 

; .i\ in honor of < Oliver < Iromwell, a aa 

mm thai of Edward \\;i» aew 

use of mere fancj . 

middle name was preferred by 

• • w ord ii gave a aj to 1 he 
Dame, or ita abbrei la( ion, 

i welded together thai each 

iughou( hia life M r. 

da and largely to the public 

not the ursl of the Dame 



\'0\ III AMI VOl S(j M Wlh" 

Dumb 

of fodep 

him 

nnmindf 

■ 

1 1 
i; State < 

H 

H 

1 

hiatoricaJ dooament 

the f.nuih had ranked well 

thor 

ili.-. 
• 

Sin: 
ermined. 

N 

literally, it mi ni -. " \ 
of l 

trust i 

mocta an 
modern, as 



i.l. w Ai;i' OLIVEB WOJJ OTT 

■ ame froi 

e family had liw<l for many 

: their tombs stand bj the 

irch Be came earlj in i he Puritan 

from Plymouth, England, March 20, L630. 

;..m\ u ho Bel i i<-'l at l k>rcheeter, Mas* 

■ 16 joined the movement i<> < Jon« 

... den p of Rev. Thomai Booker. 1 • 

the M assachuset ta towm 
rtown, and Neu Town, oo\i Cambr 

towuM respect ivelj <.f Windsor, 
■ !. .Mi-. Wolcott going with Iiis 
told that he vrai a " Btont- 
j man," and that after the pastor " i e 
distinguished man in Windsor." Be 
i lonnect lent < leneral < Sonrt or Legisla- 
the time of his arrival until his death, 
member of the Constitutional Convention of 
• i been led to change their abode 
tion to t he oligarchical ideas a hich 
• felony, and the otter- 
Convention naturally w;iv pronounced in its 
I onstitution ii the first docu- 
ivernment bj the simple 
i rned i«\ it, and in tfa 
for i he » '«'ii>t it lit Ion <>f t be I totted 
this t 'on Ten I ion, a hi< b i on- 
fundamental law, was pre 
i m ..at line in a short hand n<»t.' boos <»f 

- nator w oleott traced his 

ii.) • of t he daughter* "i t he 

. i he direct male descent « as 

on of I lenrj . as was that of 

t « '..mi. •-! lent and 

B Wolcott «.i Massa* 

ii-i (general ion from the 

• ol the American family. 

•' II. nn . William. an<] 

m -• w oleott w ii icupied 



^ I »l ill \ \|» V'Ol Sti M.Wlh H )\) 

i lao n. in • 
Idef of I 
name ••l '" '' • i • 

founger \ 

'in I John \ 

tOD, I In- In-' ... .u|>. nit Of ' ; • 

I • 

■ nor Woh ■<■' of N ' 
family, ttj log in ptTt I 

! 

:. in the ■ 'Mint.' 

■:,il i.— in tin- i 

ght, I.ut ■ 

I 
till- f. 

Indicia] 

i 

1 
of tin- pram 
. 
i 
and 'ivii.. 

I 
ol tk 

ti ■ «litn | 

thai in- would be Dnworthj 

frt-.l» loatN to tbC 

country, either in tin- h-.ur of 

I 

Bimoi R 
as did three old r : ' 



i:i»\\ ai;i> m.i\ EB WOLCOTT 

did not join the family until 

; i >nd marrii romantic. 

i denta of w Lndsor one 

grea !>• man's estate and bad 

i .in attract i\«- young 

. Pitkin, Bister of the Attorney* 

- e had *■« • n i«- onlj for a visit, bnt 

of membera "f her sax, it was con« 

• public policy i" permit her return. The 

il their r and <!••- 

liable marriageable man ol i he toa a 

r itfa a \ iea to matrimony, and thus In- 

■ community. Thej concluded 

• was most Likely to be successful In such 
of the plotting was an earlj match, and 

branch <>f the family iw>^\ productive of 

\ ong their sons was 

cond, who was tin- father of Gideon, who 

«, and who became ii>" father ol Samuel 

Lion in the Revolutionary War. Thia 

ie father <»f Blihn and the grandfather <>f the 

i who was the father of Senator Wolcott 

er, far more <>f the original Wolcott 

us iii;ui iiiis tracing alone 

•ii\ through Simon, bul through 

iii.i i hrough .Man . li ii to 1 [enrj . 

i i onnecl ion a itli the I lenrj and Mar) 

mil} came through the mai 

i; olut lonarj period to Jeruaba 

daughter of < leneral Brastus w ol- 

•!. of < lonnecticut, and 

lown in direct line from 

^tiii fartl • w olcott, 

his cousin, Sarah Drake, 

i >b I » r. i K « - and daughter of 

our lubjecl was a R olcott of the 

•! -amlfat Imt. was the 

i tabliahed him- 

1 hich ai the time seemed to 



^ < »i ill AND Vol SCi M\ \||« n 

Dr. S..IHW-; W 

1 

I |. : 1 1 -i t . - of 1 

• 
I 
t.»wi 

Illinois; and < Ileveland, < >hio I • •' • 
wai : 

.in appo 

h and ! ' 

hoooi 

• 
will 

I did no( personally knon 

prop 

•ii while 
d be fell 

old PineoJl B 

tbroplst, to tt.< 

the B 

Phil] 

I.m.'k 

In "iir qv 
HOD Of "'ir triuinj 

hx \ 

Bibl< 



i:i»w ABD <>i.i\ EB R I >IX> 1 1 "I" 

. and thii \\;^ the 

which the friends 

parent organisation. 

r*i actii ii\ in this 

Republican Convention in L893, when 

. be was a boy, hi* home lia<l been 

11. 1 railway/' a bich help 

■ • : d LI of !i.n ing 

tiidden in the attic <>f the bonae in 
pen! some i Ime a ii li Shen 

• • < 'ii-isi [an < '"iii- 

• ter part «»f bia Life he a rote a Dum* 

<>f which is widely in oae in Christian 

for the a orld we sing." 



mother a aa Harriel A. Pope, of Millbury, 

Her father, Jonathan Adama Pope, \\li<» 

■ Nora ich, < tanned lent, a aa an ex- 

mill proprietor, and !"• was a grandaon "f 

ped into Nea England the 

: ; i u . - 1 1 to thai aed ion. 

• • Mr. Wo • r iii:in hare 

u bo belonged i" anot her 

Pomroy, «>f Hebron, Connecticut 

in the rei i\;il methods "f Jonathan 

i t.. the double charge being made 

N< a Light i lewa, and preaching 

on in the pariahea of < >M Light 

■ fi »re 1 1"- < toneral < Jonrl in t be 

Dg in ;m«l "in ..f the 

ildiers. The congrcgat i<m 

i bia 

• bia life "ii the rolun* 

Another \\;> s 

. i • d Mci Jut ■ Inate of "> ale 

rity School, al the 

of Nea l [ampehire ;« m« I 

There being do cl( 



^i < >l III iXI> VofNti MAN 11 

in. n in i be Deightx >i 
I k V hi 

. to the I 

i . Q(j y ri Wo 

\il of them were born 
the date "f the birth ol Samu< 

i 

All attained to manh I and 

I in in' 

iel, Henry, Edwi 
children Hari i U I 

D ' ; Rev. Willli 

- : Kathei ine I lllei 

Ann. i I. ( 

1 rude, "f I 

\ ... 

A.-.-n pej 

j ft-.. in home much <>f 
lii« : L848, l< 

young I .<\" .ii 'I'v ndven . 

f.unil\ at Longmeadow, i 

until we 

j u ith Julia 
in to nienl place, to taki 

the flower of our familj « ith me i hen I 
warmth ol 

111. 1111.-. I I 

all I -nf of all hie rhil< 

memben 
of them took 

imenl f<»r In* tin; 
the beginning thei 



19 i.i'U \i;i» OLH 1:1: WOLOOTT 

DDOBIUU ;in«l of more than 
. indeed, was bis pn 
exl mention of the 

■■ •■ ■ Ij 
■ in Edward's grandfather under the 

_■. 18 19, a ben, after express j l 

o law, the mother <>f the three 

Bon are the three charming boj b, 

and \ i\ :i« i t x ; I [enrj . a iili Mis 

. :i.i Eda ard a ii li hi** gubernatorial 

hi of superiority sufficiently noticeable 

• I attenti m-ii then, and 

tl ought in ;i letter dated a( 
\|-i :!. 1849, a ben Ed araa onlj a 
• "M that date li«- i<-ils of his 
London, " jnal three a eeka from 
you and tfu R< peating 

i lie dear Little felloe i 
Samuel aJ 
d .i polite request \>> th< 
p like .i in. in. I do 

• familj remon 
and remaining there until is.".::, went 

rid, a be in I v "«:» I bi 

■ i iioic \ reaidence was i 

a bicb < 'leveland, ame 

ii.-. i guch urn il I s m. a hen the 
ngmeadow, arhere thej continued '<» 
death In L901. m 
a*o or ill' 

ii.n the 
and joined them • 

e of the j ol the lub 

to tell his <'\\ ii storj in 
I, however, thai hia life 

: thai he waa 
• «l u i ing a*eek 



•I I II \M» 

T 

own 

w.-ll 

til Who : 

• liini "f 

■ • ■■! 'I 

1 

nd • nit urwl « 
li him en 

.iti.l rut 
nil the I 

the ' 

m perraded the t 

«-.>ln vu held .if 'In- old w 

the 

B 



n i:i>w \i:i» <>i.i\ i;i; WOLOOTl 

r\\ the capture of Fort DonelsoiL 

i throbbed aa fiercely In Ohicagi 

:i.l B lad in blfl ind alert. 

. ,i i.\ it. Be sum one of the crowd 

»ll..wr<l (In* funeral |irtM-(>ssioii <»f Si.-ph.-n A. 
burial place at the s.»utli end «»f iln- city. 
ii i earh impressions --f his new home are shown In the 
following letter written, five monthi after hia arrival, to a 
rho had remained with the relatives al Norwich: 

en 

your letten from tin- Post-office thia after- 
ring his letter I thought i would 

with it. We have had ;i great deal of g i 

but mtv little mow, but the reason there 
i ;iiim- they ; "''' doa 11 bj the 
: the a Ind bloa ag that it ll n't any fun. 

of the managen of tin- •• foung ftfen'i 
• me the privilege of taking out any b< 
. that I choose l like Chicago rery much in 
: block in Providence would look almost i>k<- a 
. - ,:, ,,• these great seven and eight-story marble 
.» much more going on here than 
There ai am engine! here In < !h 

• ■. them work. 

■ Dutchmen here In Chicago than you ever 

f the i ost Important itreeti in the citj yon 

v ind i.i'i"" 

i '. % 

and iIm- highest natural hill In Chicago 

high In the yard of one of our 

binet and ti ther 

it man) curiosities, 
Aunt) f i much oblige! lo her for 

. iii% love i" Addie and 

bed 

brother 

i brought to an end by the 



VOUTH IND YOUNfl HANIKwi 

...ii ..f the famllj ■ ■ • 
Oil I 
the Iron Indnato 
Cleveland 1 

■uilv boil 

Arenoe, then Bnclid B 

• 
corner • I clM and i 
tcqnired an affection I 

• >f the acl I. Be all 

man! 

and loud irould 

Bible reading t«> Impoae diacipline, • 

i • i the Kir \ 
queen and Morde< ai, the J< 

the hall." 

i nsi i ' 

the war wa* pnli 
\ 

: coming; there were military fnn< 
iiKitiv reterant woondi 

• i| hi numberh 
the worl 

-I l»y the B 
other 

belonged to boja 1 mil 

At !. 

.law. .i-».i the tem] ' 

\ of the ' lf s In 

Edward added n 
it wai one of thoi 
the • 

He ierred foi 
the laal day* of the war. H 
D, i fiment of 

ing the Bummer of I ft 



i:i»\\ \i;i» I >l.l\ ER w I »l.« '< rTT 

of the capita] city, 

and Mr Woleott 

i pa w ritteo bj him at that time 

. thai the men u^tti the Dame facetiously 

• in for a Bummer vacation. 

mi thej are spending 

Thai thej made I holi« 

dent from the chart 

.in. I brief letters written by him daring thai period 

friends it -« -; 1 1 1 alighting references 

.iinl frith some he left the 

I the experience was an unpleasant one BUi 

Thai he «li'l ii"t ai all times 

\ ,! .- •• • and that occasionally there was 

rough work than waa >le t<> him is 

I'.ui that in the main tin- service was eni 

bis letteri bear abundant testimony. True, 

• i ..f not li :i \ i n l: a chance to meet the enemy, 

•■» have been his principal cause ol 

urallj in hie latei e f<-it that he 

i ;i great part in the war. and there were in 

■ us win. were disposed i" make rapl- 

of a military experience, however trivial, that he 

The truth la that he did perform 

rnntrj mi a tin f peril, and that 

suae he «li<l not have opportunity 

. did He enlisted for ;> hundred daj b 

He sen ed for 

and expressed iii^ w illingni 

i ..f like duration, nn i>ii<- brief 

opportun waa 

II( . p pears not 1.. ha\ ■ 

a illing to ' he condit ions 

. r«iiiL'li tli'Mi^'li 1 1 » • - \ nc<i-ssaril\ musl 

. our young soldier probablj had 

plaj lug in 
1 1 onlj one battle, that at 

by Gi DeraJ Jubal A. 

in <• ; I. nt on the result <>f that en- 



rOUTB tND YOI WOOD 

count 

w ol< 

I 

which ti 

A.ir. ji; 

t<» the Daceanitj of pro! 

don, and the 
undertaken In ••ar: 

1 hi. :. 

I 

gagni in I Idernem \ 

f<»r r 

-uj.pli.il 1,\ ; 

m from Uu - 

an- 1 i be I i 

mailer f"i- 

.m.l i 

• in. <>n tl.< 
Hill, veil 

bad i 

• r the purpoer* 
.1. i . Barnard, i 

them, and wt 
a bi 



IS i:ii w ai;i> I >i.i\ 1:1: w < >i.<< rTT 

tl H ■! a .-.ill!:. 

■ rerj prominent point, at Inter 

bt hundred i" one thousand yards, was occupied bj an 

important spproach or depression "t 

pi i>\ a battery for field g 

l i>\ rifle- trenches irhich were in fact 

fantri parapet, furnishing emplscemenl f'»r tiro ranks 

■ I communication along tin- line 

Mat troops and 

ould In- moved rapidly from one point "f tin- Immense 

t.. soother, "i- under cover, from point t<> point along 

the I 

- which prevailed along manj parti <<f the line were 
r a mile or !«<• in front <>f the works, tin- counter 
irhich were surrounded by ebattia. Bomb-proofi were 
:i oearly nil the f<>rts; all guna not solely Intended 
• Are, placed in embrasure and \\<-n traversi 

■ es, ample i" •« ►iit;tiii one hundred 
-mi. constructed; tin- original crude structures, built 

I k< for •■ Bold fortification," re 

i by others, <»n pli oped, or which the 

■ i i<-rii ariiii«T\ made Decessary. ah com* 

on which an enemj would be likely i<> concen* 
rerpower that "f one or more of « 'u r foi 

Dot onlj t.. the fin 

ilong the line, bnt also from heavy rifled 

hi |M.uit>. unattainable b) the enemy's field-guns. 

• lopmen ts i li< sinlj approximated 

t" th( i w bich can be attained from 

Thej would probablj realise In 

atti buted '" fortified lim-^ l>\ Napoleon, 

tted earthworks, thej werescarcelj what 

■ 

MM i appear* d i» ton R i hington, all 

m in. h iia<i constituted 1 1 mi of 

b of the artillery, 

ii and iii- mainlj filled bj a few 

bundred-daya men," jn-t mustered Into iii<- 

under ' ; i of estab 

• .1 • 1 1 1 1 • i : i • ementii for 

ed Bodies of hastily- 

« j 1 1 :i r t « -i- 1 1 1 :i - 1 • • i*- " men, « i t i v. « • 1 1 

• t.. the lines, could bardlj go amiss, 



\ I >l III \ M> VOl \', M \\||ih.|. 

Under «.tf • 

\\U to hai 

kept tdrin m it With • 
fleld euni f..iin.|. w Ithoul 

•-I from tl 
\i-r\ !•• I hirh tin- t> 

I uiM-iif of T h«- defeni 

twentj foar and tiiirf> two-pounder 
th b limiii-.i proportion «»f I 
guna, rlH iii". and guni 

light cmlibre vere provide*! for 

roandi of ammunition, and pome <>f the 
nrorka bad •» considerable extent of bomb proof 

h about one third of 

slrep and nearly all take temporary 

and the} afford an in) 
. 1 1 1 jv <-f the young 
in the effort to bring I 
tin» country araa - on\ ; • d 1 
of the period from the youi 
bough Nri.-f glimpai 
1 1 - lei tern are all written a ith lead p< i 
tin-in are on half 

Although h< 
.•it upon barn 
thai the a ril ing t.ii»i<' « 

All of Um 
nothing from him in either ' I 

montha included li 

ither and 

I :,in\ 1». 0. N. < 

ti are full «»f blackberr 
ripen about the tirst ..f July. 

eable to 



i;i»\\ \i;i» < »i.i\ i.i; w I »i.<« >TT 

I ■• : just 

i en be umonDoei that he had 

i of tin- fruit in Ian than an hour, which 

found a place where there had n<>t 

ad "f him. Three briet low, 

the routine doty. u T he says, 

d at our fort, and we have more 

do than an\ other company. We bai i on ' 

i *t rather tough," 

bean date of Julj 8th, and li written 

r paper, showing thai the boy's fortunes 

in this he tells of bai tag received 

her enclosing a photograph <>( bis mother. 

h gratification over the receipt of the picture, 

■ l one, he adds : " I shall value it 

; ,ll the boxes or greenbacks thai yon could ever 

ace to boxes and greenbacks s 

., its of bis on a, which he afterward 

Further along In this letter, he says : " i 

■ want father to think that because l wanted c a box' 

discontented with Government fare and with the 

I onlj b that I might be on equal terms 

< mi the contrary, I think there 

me in tin- regiment that takes things and 

i 1 1 ,•• •■ Be then explains 

port whi( to have reached his home that the 

I the regiment were discontented and di 

tioning DJ nam.- the author Of this 

i that that gentleman bad taken homes wrong 

• The onlj men," I that 

es like himself, n bo of course would 

But the d e fellows were 

front a ii \ waj ." and here Mr. Wolcott 

real WolcotMike argument, the convincing 

i bis after years; M anj way," he 

ma that staj at home doing nothing for 

, • ose boys 
home aot knowing where thej 
• , | . . . . ol • • i ana, who, of course, 
• L50th." 



^ I »l III \\|» > I .1 SO M \ • 

• 

ton •• which pi 

ondei I I P 

of offeiiMivr 9 

}■ ■ had been Huccewtful il would 

arm • 

achieved b] (fort 

w . • L864 ' 

were crowdio 

der "f t : • 

ed the i<l«-.i of M building 
and to that end M I ifl> to I 

with Mp© 

i.f this iii.tTMi u :■ I 

' odaj and 
Jnly. 

led 

tw.. 

baae "f b 

th.it « bile earlj in the moi 
.ml Doder 
enemj filed h 

thXOWl) «»nt in fr- 
n il* from .i d amber of 

feda Bf of the futllltj 

decided to withdi 

u . h » , i men had I 



i:i»\\ \i:i» <»i.i\ j.i: w < >LCOTT 

■•iimialiil "f Ilarlv lia> Im-vIi \ at;. M&ly 

"i men, the former I rlj 'a 

of Major-Genera] \ 
who commanded ila- Union f" 
ither of theme estimates, bol Axes 
DO an. i l'ii. linn. There were aboul 
in tin- works lfoa( "f them \\<-i« 
. tin- point ( »f attack, ■ 
" i 'ook ma. I.- bia beadqoi The defensive 

! in the main <<( n.-u recruits, t*tii there were 
M.m\ convi from the hospitals and 

>yees also were summoned 
!i i in- in»jM- thai they might be serviceable in 
.mi.- formidable There is do doubt thai 
rwards wrote, li«' succeeded in giving w 
! fright,*' 

mand was located only two or three miles 

- reus and unquestionably would have 

■ if i;.ni\ bad n..i desisted from bis 

i ii j soldier could eaeilj bear the firing of 

and, be tells us, be enjoyed peeing the bombs 

\- • was, a portion "f lii^ regimen! was 

of the Ugh! and some of the members «>f the 

■ 1 i lie plau « ben, in i he ii"i aftern 

• 1 1 Hi <>f July, Genera] Barlj rode down tin- dust 3 

\\ ii li the ii"i f continuing into Washington. 

;i ..f young \\o]. ..it's letter "f July 
ten jn-i after the receipt <»f the news <>f the 
1 ame i\\" hours 
me to i«a\ .• 1 be camp, '" drill four hours 

;•• ii«l all iii.- real <>f the ii 

I from around the fori This looks 

i raid 1 \\ i - 1 1 thai 1 in* 

. . 1 •: av( noraet hing i" a rite 

another addll ion, in a hich, after 

id failed e through the mail 

, ;•■ r, he add* u W e have 

• bunh. Ii 'b mean work 

Ave mounted guerillas 



YOUTH tND YOU NO MANHOOD 

from !"■!•• i 

r.-.il t. .ii< h -«f I 

■ 

i.\ tii.- cannon and I 

■ 

i|- m line <>f b 

Of tllr tl! 

• I 1 think 
II different pi 

■ 

I ill la' hOI 
v .11. 



ronrtli tod lai 
and Qenn were bo 

I 

I ant, an<l added tl 

■ 



i:i»\\ Ai;i» « >u\ 1:1; w i >LO »tt 

Mr v - pari for lii* father, ;in«l he was especially 

I ^pressing the belief thai I [enry 

fortnight after hit arrival, he added: 

ire return? if he li n't 11 will 

saaure of getting home." The remainder 

a. Mill qUOl 1 1 1 j_T. i! follow | ; 

I think thai it the end of thii hundred dayi i will look 

- • tie pleaaantesl tinw cut We have been 

bealthy place, do1 mnch to do, and bare had the satisfaction 

liinii two miles of tin- rebe and seeing them drawn 

op in line ild he better to have had 

ame pretty Dear it :m«i two compi 
of the 150th » od one man killed. 

j thai they will try and keep us another 
hundred daj s. W <• We heard rery little <>f it here, bn1 I would n't 
: for another hnndred daw. if «,• conld hare ■ 
furlough, and if ire didn't hare to l'o hack to the same 

lay thai thej are spending me rummer 
- 

■ l rationi boh rernmenl doei b*1 

• i. Bothing bn1 hardtack, and that's irormy. 

■ ul down the ration oi . •'. If it wihn'i for 

I I, and applet that WG f 

on i hat ire w ould do. 

If you ha. enback thai you can'1 poaaibly spend 

on 10 children pleaae rend it along. I suppose, mother, that 

monej a1 the i i I ter ipoili it. but I can'1 

here that little 

• 

; I i.\ a member of his family 

w hich hai been preeen ed a aa from 

late of July 13, i v «'.i In the 

.ti of the acth itiea of other 

r the 1 -lily, hut it . ontaJ] • n blcfa 

ire over the 

■ 
and yel I can 
- w ill rei w aahington. 

e to ( aptore and de- 
then <>f her desire to have 



YO\ in \M» \<>\ KG M INHOOI) 

li.T f ;i in i ! - 

■ 

ami wbei 

I I • LTtt 

nhoold '»•. for we 
..f in. in.'* 

i' ' in coin and member 

■ 
time, I'Mt later he 

..f A' 
I 

1 1th three or f<»ur Men 
i moment 

turn. 

meat ' 

luit onlv with in 
from :u: 

I 

but he d( 

- 
whil< 



lv. i:i»\\ ai;ii < »i.i\ EB w i >I/> >tt 

• -ill-mil** would laj tin- action to motives of politics and 

to ate ii»<- organisation for 

of Denver, at one 

committee to wait on Mr. Wolcotl and 

Poet ol b - application for member' 

forth ill- • i in- committee and «i<- 

with much regret He bad bis discharge 

I and prised them highly. 

ii. often told bis friends that in- had spent the greater 

- time while in the service in the guard-house, 

lining that it waa pleasanter inside with friends than 

I >oub1 1< : drea the picture in a spirit 

i»f humorous self -depreciation ; bnt that be was there some 

of the time bis brother Benrj confirma. Benrj relates that 

■ in. I Ed confined hut.' than once during their service, 

ribing himself at this period of life as M a chunk of ■ 

nor man." Mr. \\ olcott delighted to tell 

■ a in- bad been " squelched '" hj his colonel. 

of the monotony li«- went i<» that officer and 

him that in- wanted to u«> to it"- front where there 

■• \ .-a want to go to the front, do you? S ou 

go bach i" your quartera as a starter." ii waa at one 

of the annual dinners of the Loyal Legion that the w 

on public Brut became acquainted with the fact that 

■ i i had been a soldier in the Civil nn a r Be 

i-.< I at the speaker's table as the - or of the 

and the badge <>f the organization peeking from be- 

the lapel of furnished the information that 

:.|<- of the several hundred enthusiastic 

• • \i r w ol< ot I made a moat patriot Ic and 

that aroused generous and genuine 

ii onlj sen ice a as i be 

e ( War daj - be oned 

added that be saw i erj 

of ' be i ime be a as i onfined 

from the war, young w olcott set out 

i • ■• rmined t hat be 



YO\ ill \\|. JfOl SO M tXUOOD 

1 
Preparatory, hoverer, to 
took H'i\ .n i. 

i 

N 
ii. entered U 

and nitiHi be told in ■ r.u - 

.ili.l u.is full 

proepecl of enterii 1 n. 

■elf for liis higher il two jean 

II t.. .i|»j'l\ liinis.lf MSidOOU 

I [e m .H' elj bad rea< bed I ■ 

i 
H 
year n the P H ■ •! anil fre»hninn y< «ill 

ndid lit for frathman • 
DOl I" in 

1 1 
ringleader Id fun an. I in m 

tin. I 

trOI • M a\ v .,n.| m. -.i n - u ;• 

wild a large family, irbo had io little* m< 

mi in w liirh I 

Ici bad • 

Mini, an. I bo* In- had 1 

for n hieh th< 

ii- 

1 - tir. for 

1 

■ w 

rding bonne* and ■ 
much interest. In a letti i 

and _ 



II. w aki» OLIVEB tVOLOOTT 

tea ii. and in the coarse 
-•\ Identlj 
S i * ith Mi i the 

i n ripl asking, •• Boi 

\ i". '" in w hich lie 

•• I would ;i«l \ !«-<• \<»n I., nail dOWII that window in QUI 

W 11 won't leave a single grape for the reel of 

ear at Sadaoo Ifr. W ipent another twelve 

moot • ►rwich, Connecticut, Disking his home at the 

• Irandfathei mong the 

young men at the Institution, ss manj of 

:i testify. 11 - popularity was due not 

atom eniaJ manners which are remarked by all. but 

dent and his . ■:■ man. 

29, L909, S\ - Mice I < In in. Mill 

Mr v. orite irith both teachen and clan 

■ aial, "in ■pokes msnner. Be ■ si 

ction in snj group irhich be Joined. Be lored 

sad frolic, hu i l .aim.. i remember that be i ed it 

reme Be bsd, even In 1 demy 

...lit, and ;inv plan whh Ii In- 
pretti BUi ■ .- adopted bv In- class. I re 

the 
- « inn they left tlnir Alt 

h, |i .. a.. I mil. h .|iiickm>s. ami his later ii-.-m-il 

b lity. 
I • him writh and followed 

eer a Ith much 

fj : 

r M. 1 r Mr Wolcotl 

I ; ed well and bsd the repute 

ember him aa a Jollj irhoie 
often preached 

■ N J 1 admired Mr. 

II b I think h<- 



VOUTU \ M» \ • »l N ' MWIIn. 

for 

Ith tllC U 

be bi 

■ 
much 



Mr W 

I 

uj» and iend to him fa 

And the i 



ii'\\ \i:i> < »i.i\ 1:1: w < >L0OTT 

es an ; i • served, and th( 
ive been Intended at an ap 
for tii- »f the letter itaelf. They ran u follows: 

' \ :i.l oblige 

four Affectionate 

her 

Oliver 

rVolcott" 

(Mi the same sheet on which this letter was written was 

an original drawing, which, in dew «»f tin- mixed attendance 

at t! • - significant It was a silhouette in ink of 

tin- head "f a oegro girl and portrays more pointedly Mr. 

idea "f the school than could anj language, it 

!n.i\ convey a him aa tn tin- reaaoD for his brief stay 

: imi i-nj«»\ m i v.-« 1 asso.iat ions. 

Mi- \\. .h..!t entered Yale College in 1866. 5e remained 
a year, leaving without graduating, No ade- 
quate record «-f h •!<■<• at gale has been pr e a crve d 
t<» na, Ian in his after iif<- he frequently indicated his 
chment for an. I great interest In the college WTe 
ter, written not a great while after he left 
the Inntitution, an account «»f an incidental return >" it. 
risit to one of the faculty there Writing 
1 ■ bruarj 27, L86fi 

v mdaj aoon for Men Haven, I • ailed, "f 

I found la i iii ; "ii^' (he (lUfttV 

. tii<- Ilbrai . 1 1. i u --• kind t" me, e\ in< ed bu< h 
■ Ddahip f' '.'li 3 "a. i 

11 mi shrinking fellow and aever will 

All at ..!i than that which ha now occuplen Fet 

! alf all BOble, BBftel fifth I-!' .i- I <l 

e in the world I If laid be hoped 
;■ 1 1 j % hope "f returning; that I would BOt 

• ■ now 1 1. .•.•'•! in.- i" w rite him 

u riting let tei i r ai 

! t.. answer them. Per 

n< h about him, but mj 

• trip, •in. I if \.-ii knew him you would 



Ji 



1 



STOUTH \\h 

lid .il-. 
conferred 

i \ 

i 

pmer\> «l I ■ 

30. itn. 

men. 

:>. an. I 

rm. 

in 1 -' nil .-inpl 

the ran 

his | 



i:i»\\ ai;i» i »i.i\ 1:1; w i »i .< H >'i t 
insurance N for a Ku^in.--^ bonne. 

All <»f t: , ••.iii-iii- t 1 i | ^t',7, 

ii.i ih<- end "f '!»«• last mentioned year 
- linn ai his od preparing to enter 

areer <>f a lav 

:l'l\ <-f all h . that a! Flint v/as III.' 

» Mi v, M-- was it,,- youngest mem- 

■•••. .iii-i. aa much <>f the 

ii work "f the establishment Ml t<» him, in- <li.l not 

relish Lh< isition. if. however, hia fen 

months at Flint <li<l DOt estnhlish liiin in hnsim->s and make 
Of him the faull W8J DOt <lm- to lack "f 

ather. The elder M r. w olcotl wot a man 

"f i probity. Be alao was mnch 

I for his boy's w « • I r. 1 1 « • He leema to have been 

ted in l Id's oh employ ment and t<> have 

that he should remain awaj from the large 

itrnmental in locating him at Flint, and 

1 -'.7. \. rote to the young man from 

1 

\ line fron that yon g to 

. and 1 hope mat j on are 

j introdui ><\ to your nev <im lea. This 

II !►<• ».. \ ..ur mother, from i bom, 

Icitude about your 

.111 Im- 11, 

n be iii takin 

ii- 

if. in the 
<>( honorable 
I probab 
■ nth. in the store srhlcJ 

!;..iir. 

our employer* and 

.ii<- im ome inpport 

■ a little, if possible, li the problem 

• you « an, 

it ? 



rouTB \m» 

liiiu W 

i 

lucrative 

■ 
all my i II 

do i | 

H 

a suit of clothi ! ' 

•'link for bin 

thlog for Bd; I 

'I I' I I 

• r him, Is i 
I 

hi t 

tore little mon 

« Itfa t In n. In 01 

lain 

I ITOrt an. I ' 

tin- money, « In. ' 

\\«>ui.| be at home Thai 

I hai 

■ 

p thom t.. 

deal "f n. 



i:i>\\ .\i:i» < >i.i\ 1:1: w < >LCOTT 

be afterwan Mod tome articles borne for the 

by a letter from his mother thanking 
li i in for them ;ni<l complimenting him opou lii* selection. 

letter from the mother was irritten on November 
- that by t 1 1 i — time the familj had beguu 
Job oote of the son's dissatisfaction with hia employ- 
ment i; ihe aaya: " 1 bai e no 
doubt yon win bare much to in yon, but yon will i>a\ »* 
trials of - In anj situation." The father was not 
quite ao philoaophical or gentle, and writing on the -Tih «»f 
,Imi- uiiii reference t" an offer which the son had 
er insurance work I ork, he a 

I an quite aatiafled with your present place, as favorable 
for .1 \\ ■ ■ • iii it steadily 

f.-r three years ;tn<i <1" well, yon would be In demand In Aral 

■. or more, and would occupj an 

Independent po ■ '. more bj leaving than bj remain 

\\ .■ are aot without anxietj now, and should tremble If yon 

But I decide <•• leave the m;i f t .r wholly 

w itli en i ouraging nor ptance 

:•. 1 >(. 1 hat yOU think !•• 

difference en father and ^"n were soon ;i«i 

justed, and we And the young man transferred from Flint 

earlj In the coming year. In Nen 5Tork 

be entenn] the office of the Equitable Life Aasurance Society, 

then at 92 Broadway. 

\| i SVolcott's letters from Neu STork cover onlj the 
I from . 1 . 1 1 1 1 i.i i \ '-'"Hi to March 18th, althoug 
in i ! • • in in-. I throughout the year M in ii >>f their de- 
ken up n it li tints "f ■ ■ irj. boat • 

I w Ith old friends "f his f;ii hei . 

•a of lm- i • • • on « J 1 1 i i « • a 

January 28th, \\<- And him 

I* i ■ re s "i I ing for myaelf l 

on renewals. 

I I * v e | hing for enough 

'.- w < • 1 1 ;it present, I. ill hou 

I don't know." r,\ ii,.- end <»f February 



\ i >l I II \ \ l» ^ i »i \. , MAN 
he bad • 

I' : 

.»r ,i 

1 

the Ik York < 

i 



fi- 



tnillt $ 

Douallj 

1 1. • 

k<*pl : 

in 11. 

dda 

■ 

ami ii 



i:i.\\ ai:i» OLH EB WOLCOTT 

apparently what an openii made for 

he added : " Nou you i Ith my nana] 

foolUhnetu I have put mj head in the lion's mouth, aa pe- 
on spendthrift habita, where there la do need 
Of if. Bo draw it mild, plei 

long in the aame letter he comment! upon the 
■ 1 infatnation "f the bu I soliciting lif«* 

in-ui ring: 

peek without 'in- remoteal i<i"a where i am 
• . My bread. I am frightened sometimes when I 

think <»f i r — t » » think th;it I am liable to |0 ■ iii"iiili without I 

man, although i' li said thai if ■ man will devote ■ certain 
number "f h..> tent <-!T<>rt. he li just ai mre 

-s as ihc Mm I hare probablj talked 

Lnaurance to i hundred and arty men, and I bate 

. :i-\s it. The IniMiii iiu r n-ally 

ha im!i q we find from another statement 

tn the father that Mr. rVolcott had earned |211 87, and that 
he had overdrawn hii account t<> the extent of twenty-five 
He pointed "in that tin* Income waa at the rate of 
i [e added, I on ever, that not from the Aral 
iij. t.» that time had be obtained s single appli* 
•• But," !• I have at leaat the satisfaction 

'•f knowing that I never worked harder. M\ employers do 
a hy Hhould l '.' " 
In i \i r. Woli - to have been \ er] 

pulot matter of church attendance, and his Ural letter 

oi p ^i ork, dated January Inrgerj taken np 

mm «if hiii <-\|" that line on t he Bun- 

He telle ol eiaiting for the morning service, 
b] an old t Ime friend of bis fat her*i 
that in the evening he went I ; ' i spin's church. 
i ■ ; a splendid sermon, not wholly 
i, but one of the moat eloquent productions I 
i i .i week later, he saj - : 

in-, h Sal. l.at h morning 
i in\ life. My friende, how* 
: he did not <h» himaelf justice In the evenii I 



\ < H 111 \ \l> VOI \'. MA! 

■ .|.-i| tin- i 

- 
oother !• 

.. igth of " 
B 

14 1 like I 

■ 

Dl in a li 

[{ 

boom MMonablv. if If i* igreMbk » ■■■■ • • ' 

morning. If D 
trill b 

jron. I ■ 

\..M 

th m«>rnh 

bath 

;t roggMtJon. i «n 



r.i'W \i:i> < »i.i vi:i; w < >i.<< >tt 

him is in a l. : .it Frankfort, Kentucky, February 

IX i *i aed i" ix'th lii» parenta and 

i- f 1 1 1 1 ..f . - of his business he - 

to-night, but feel more than satisfied. 1 have 

il twentj f<»ur hours in three 

.•Hilling t< |4500. I obtained full price* and 

1 k ii e profit for the H< Bnt il cannot 

I happened to itrike tin- merchanti at j n-t the right time, 

do drnmmen had recently visited the towns, i irai 

For the ireek preriona I lia.l sold comparatively 

He en outlined hie desire for the Immediate future, 

g that after li«- had finished hie canvass of Kentucky he 

would a-k the firm for which he w;h travelling to send him 

li;but ii does not appear that hi the plan into 

G ring his reason for wishing I utinue In 

■• They hare more money than < >hio 
peopli resent, and will spend it more freely. M 

e in travelling a aa a i aried one, but 
- not without pleasure t<> him in his buoyant 
young maiiii I i» made <-\ ident : 

ontinuing in- lei ter . I i ode about twentj 

Khelbyville through 1 1 » « - intrj you 

warm ai a lummer day, and In some 

- in lummer. In Bhelbyville, 

Kentucky towns, the black population ii much 

l u. m I.: k <>f the little 

o fair, and oei 

the yom aa Dot devoid "f interest in the 

re woman h I ma\ be gathered from the 

'ii from the Frankfort l«-t:- 

utiful ipot ai I : i ■ ■ i told la almost 

ml iln- t..un is 
• .nitifiil women, ;m<l 
in\ lif<-. A South 



\..i ill \\l> YO\ S(3 MANHOOD M 

The 1 1 • - x I .1 ; 
ind the buain< 
li u r:' •• d fron !"• ■ ' ■ I 

• r\ -lull and 
making ru.. tOWDI OCT daj 

ml . 1 1 ■ ( ■ 

H 

.... I , 

• k or ten daj i* Froi 
p, 1 1 o p k i 

l.ti-l up at bil 

if ire k 1 1 
fori Di 

kw-w hill) in 

ful, inipulf 

i 
■ onder th< 

I 

one 

\\ Mr. Wnlrnlf f 



i:i>\\ \i:i» OLIVBB WOLOOTT 

• aturaJ b and splendid executive 

a lth a little ii- ■ a rought 

al world if be had remained in 

it. 1 1 ... , ib ,.f ;i pro- 
nal life 

Bdward'e becoming a 

tnd in this determination bad a itaunch supporter 

older I W bile Henry bad 

in busim ■ after tin- clone ol 

and in racceaefnl, be bad 

ronnd conditioni •*n t i r«-l \ to his liking ami bad emi- 

then territory "f Colorado, where he was 

if in tin- bnnineai «>f mining 

milling nrc». II. « .n.-.-r --f the Wolcott family In 

h he and Edward 

repntatioD and wealth, and whence we 

And him writ i feeniona] plana. I to 

mber, i vi that 

••will have application enough to itlch bo 

law, for," he aaya, M he li capable of making ■ 

:<>n nf tln-M' plans wr discover Edward located 
i office in Boston before the clone of tin' fall 
M-asmi <»f ! SOU Previous to »n for 1 he 

roung man ipenl 
and, but the onlj glimpee 

• him there ; - In a let ter '" i 

'i . onlj a half 

a picture of the home iif«- and 

of the Irrepressible jo\ ialitj <>f the 

i from hi> Southern i"ur 

•i«l. at the time the Ie1 ter w aa penned, 

conn I «'f an Inprow ing i"«- nail. 

mi trouble Ion rd u I have," be 

tudj up to the sofa and a ill 
etter, thougl lince Thur 
i am a citing on ■ ; 
. mna, and I feel a little ' i >r« W al 

• the nan • 

■ : that 



N l »i ill IND Yol'SCJ MAN il 

Short, P 
I [« 

I l DOH I '•' 

Ull'l 



STUDYING LAW 

F0BT1 \ kTELY, Mr. Wolcotl has left a quite complete 
• r.l of liis lift- while he was engaged in studying 
law. There have been preserved between tort} and 
iift\ letters from him covering the i»«-ri<»<i from the time he 
u Ihh course in Boston in tin- law office of Charles T. 
and Thomaa ll Russell, in September, 1869, until he was 
diploma bj the Harvard I. aw School in June, i v 7i. 
and • torj more graphically than it can be 

told i thej will !"• quotLNl liberally. Possessed of 

the faculty of observation to an exceptional degree and 
otuitive in his judgment, his letters to the 
f..lks ai home abound in passages "f abiding interest, inter* 
iiii much "f the detail of everj daj life, 
I [< >•: n ith the understanding thai his ex- 

penditure* should eed iiii\ dollars a month, and oat- 

nrallj he found m difficult i«» li\<- as in- desired on this sum. 
:n.iii\ <.f his father's acquaintances, all of 
oding and, manj "f i hem, of a ealt h, 
tent, and even then 
in' universal favorite in society 
.1 favorit ism w hich he n.\ er espe 
■ ii\ w.-ni ..hi • tent, 

ho knew 
who kne* him then as one of 
orial '•' onomiei he 
in his studies a ill 
• a. 

.S4SS.-.I ( ,f ;i i.'n.i.-iK -\ toward 
ii in maiiv of ins letters. Those from 






^ . .1 III \Mi \ .»l \«, M VMI<M)1) 
tin- li. il>it 

pre And 
ackiww !••<!. 

Win! 

thai for 

i 

g 
-. be tell 

hit work, .1- follon 

■ 

; 

I All] 

: 

I bo| 
whicb in 



w two weeka afterward, the young 

legal fame earned ■ lawyer, and 

a relating the i 

merchant 
a.-.i ti i in about |600, and thai be couldnl collect 

and ranted ni<- to <!<• what I COUld toward getting 

Mr. Russell »aid I could attend t.. it and idTited me about it. 
Ji a iherilf and keeper ami attached hia pro] 

etting it all in none] and tecnrity, and learned 

law in that oat t r;i n -:i.T i« -n than I lia<l learned in 

■ 

.- conld ii"' keep the money. Aa he had not been 

admitted ><• the bar in- <ii<i everything in the nam.- of the 

i e charge wai |20, ol which the firm took 

half and gave him the other half. He wai satiafled, for be 

i f.-it that thej wonld have had a perfect right '«» 

i ail. a- my time is i holly theirs." 

g, he t«-iis hon his time not onlj belonged t<». 
I. in was claimed by, t be firm. 

ronld think it • yon had been here daring 

thii jht 1 bavenM during thai time read fifty | 

the other itndent in the office, bappeni to t"- an annanally 
II, in bia palmieal day a; and ao 

the paal fortnight, written pi 

. for which the 
- that we have 
■ ■ i hi- h baa been 1 1 ry 
derablj t.. my < 1 1 -- : t j -i >« « i 1 1 1 

they have a cane like the ■ 

ablj r epr ea en t the capital "f 
to buj np the Ballon 1 clalmi and 

■art. 

be knen I the young student 

■ a ..n Iiim preceptors, for we find 

I ' .\ olCOtl "Ii -la 

2, ] -:■ plimentary terma : 



N 01 III Wl' 

\\ .• bol h n.\ t.p •'.• r 
\ • » u r -••ii If 
• lili^'' 
tin- )■■ 

I 
■ 

I 

"iif. 

On 1 4 February, I - 

•i t a kin- i|..w ■ 

■ »f i Idening thedi 

in t ; • ,.1 tlttKM 

Intereatm ho found the irorl 

quick irork taking do« n • 

aay*, and 

hand ; II a ould 

In \|.ni there a*a 

..f that mont] ! 

mdent all the 

your Maker ' 

v ■ 
mother, 

. 

I rather think 



r.i»\\ \i;i> <»i.i\ i i; w i >LCOTT 

that I « an l;i\ iu\ handfl <»n tlu-in at a 

. . Bei ioualj . i p "uhl 
and whether you will come 
i\ bard though the thermoi 
• ■ application. 

. in i:« 11 .mm i \i>\ 

Mr Wolcott then was a regular attendant at chnrch . The 
• »nl\ h made t«» this practice were on the Sundays 

when he was in\ii<-,i to spend tin- daj at the country homes 
«»f u\> father's well-to-do friends, and for these he always 
ii i;i< ) • o bis parents. Bui li<- n<»i onlj went 

regularly e; be was an attentive listener Be beard 

(thing and was able to give an account of the sermons 
and i" ''-li whj he lik«-<i or <li<l not lik«- them, as a fe* 
ill show. 

I'luiiili'- church yesterday morning \ li<- tells 

il bis colleague in ili«- other 

.. preached for him. Not I rerj Interesting 

In the afii-nnH.ii i couldn't resist the temptation 

6 rray, 

and be did preach a real " redhot " discourse on the overbearance 

aking their ministers preach two • day. 

Be raa full «.f ministers with softening of 

on and turned loose b\ the chin 

among the old Patrian ba 
i 
< hurt li. 

i mher 15th, after having spent a brief time 

. . be tells "f ■ liree aer 

■ - in one 'la\ . and be prom 

ii.l ao much " in church going \\ hen 

Sov< ■: ■ i J v ' li he " bad a 

r ; went both m< ad after 

I bun li and beard the two ones! sermons 

I i Of W illiains 

,\ on 
1 Anthony Froude, and ap 

ui h infatuated \\ ith Fronde, if not a itfa 
Job 



roi mi ^nd vol so m \ v ' 

mi. I Mr 

I hard], ■ b 

I 

!. .iii-l eloquent H 

. 

long • i 

. Iik.- him u 1 I 

Rpeaker and 

him an. I - 

well, I think, and 

• all 
itinai 

this 

should be 1 1 

. -lnir. Ii. 
I think t!, 

tendii 



lh\\ \i;i» OLIVBB rVOLOOTT 

l would tod that they oomprlaed ill the law 

■ I .lnll'T BM1 ' ,,!1 V' u 

on cannot 

-in thorough!; " ! ' ' '•' 

in an epietle of December 5th th< d account of 

.. upon a church connciL Mentioning thai i his 
• hia •• ftral council," ' "' ' ,,li,lk '' 

perfed inquiaitSon ami impoaition. Dr. Blagden wbm i 
»r and they all aaked him all tin- tough qneetionj they 

COUld think of.'* 

h he reapondi t«> a slight reprimand from 
ither with the following explanation : 

I aotiea that yon nay in your letter that V'U hope 1 1 ill Ittl 

I have done no. 1 hare not miaai >i a 

ening, hut hare not written «>f them becauae thej 

not been eepeclally interaating. I am sorry that all my 

Inritationi ipend the Sabbath, it ii becauae bm 

in. -n Irving out <>f the aitj are really "at Borne" onlj on thai 

Mr. Da Wit B fi JO "ii a text I 

meant t.. •-• yon at the time, " For I bare trodden 

, md <>f the people <-f 1 1 none 

■ ..a earth. 
it B . i in.. a in the lentimental line, and Mr. 

h,- v. i f«ry Impreeaivelj aith the ■ erj beanti- 

rally mpnKMti, that th«- imiN-nitrnt umiiii tread the wine-prom 

h'i wrath atom feeterdaj be preached two ei 
■ernion^, and Mr. « * 1 1 i l < I — gave u I aort of lecture on 
and I 

36D be had pnjroped a seal at church, 
meet the demand of hie tether for " 
i ■ Mr rVolcott was .ii>.|„,v.,.,i to cultivate i re- 
when "tit of church may be Inferred from 
from a letter of Apt I ,; . L870 

: yon e ben I the < renti <>f laat 

ItiiihrH'K. If wni realized 

ept in 1 - brotha 

mi ii • infloencei which mrround me there, 

would be gra te ful »<> Mr. and Mi H I am, thai 

igh t.. mi borne for me too. After 



Willi A \ 1 > ! \ Ml' •• 

'ill . Inir- h l:- 

i: 

■ 

■ 

■ 

; ■ 

" 

ill <>ll 

t.. II • f 

I 

I 

until Ji 

I 

will it ■ 



i:i'\\ \i;i» OUVER WOLOOTT 

slue, ami perhaps l bare 
• I it fully. 1 like the hymn, bin 1 do DOl 
like 

. he nrritea M I have compared the three 

rit Worship ' and think the Improvement "f 

er the ftrat and the third otct the second la 

i e proportion of thia hymn originally t<» 

• your bymna la about '*' ,, '< ; after the Aral 

•;<-r the last Improvement 85 

in a letter on the 20th <»f the aame month ocean the 

following commendatory criticism: 

i.l the hymn u Tran 
quil! : n with your «'iini- and I think it Is 

rritten. [I I remember 
pari <>f the hymn on your last trip I 

\. I think one o! the g 1 points 

in tin thai it la not a hymn, l like it because it la 

• j to the I ml> i" mli nt 1 w ould 
i ihonld think yon ironld prefer 
to hymns. Nou ironld be i 
ir Bible class you tpo 
i think nothing ii especially 
og the third and fourth linei begin with "and" 
think tli. 
ould make llic verae ;i more logical one; but 

. of silence 

I think j • site the right srord In " The 

The ttii: d I lie fourth 

ml fourth linei of the ll 

me words 
rightly lo | our other hj runs. 

i the father a • ed a persona 

ii in the folio* in'.' 

I II T.hIi-\ ' I I. I'- 
ll . . . idenl l.\ a rites 
i i ;iii<l he ought to form b co-partnership. 
• --. I :t 1 1 1 ;i little tempted 
thout meaning i'. on <i mighty small capital." 



N 01 III INI) 
rabj< 

ami ' 

l»«t V 

III. Ill I 

I I 

I 

DOl think 

fully 1 

nrralh. \ 

■honl 
hdndn 

hunt • 



i:i»\\ ai;i> OLIVEB WOLCOTT 

■■_■•■. v;ii and other 

\ ■!.. •«-■• hymni in oar hymn booki ire neurlj die tame 

n and i the 

I under the different beading* and was but 
similarity in the hymns. i».>n*t yon thii 

There are many of these long analyses, bat a feu Bpe 
cimeni must suffice In the next quoted, onr critic 

into detail than in others. The hymn before him la 
tied •• i>i\in<' Guidance," and <>f ii he saya: 

ityle sre both g I, much better than 

Trust," and there li something dignified end impressive in 
the •:• But, ii in all your hymm and all your 

ons, the last part ii much the bast [n the first rerse 
*• flung " isn't good, it ii not ■ int word, anj way, 

to < i m i itan r Ith. it ii natural that 
■ pillar of fire should "hang" in tin- heavens and "fling" ita 

hward." l'.ui COUld a pillar "f cloud !»■ Mid 
U) -1<i the lame? in the M-<«.nd vcrsr, •• thai In 

ftame" and "cloud" ind "• pillar of flame end 

g in the heavens, which though moving could nM 
pathwaj ." could it ? I don't 

I hi all tin.-.- v.tm-k iln-n- air i.... manv 

. n i belli i t" make the 

1 n the fourth eerae, :i " columned 
rather mild waj -.f designating a pillar of • 
i . .ii The last line of the 

- splendid, in the 

• thing in tin- ■ onstru< I Ion not 

the " By " 

• the third line, if you i<-ft out that line would 

I think \<>u will make the hymn 

• 

i. .1 -\ 19, 1871, "ii the result of the above 
\i r w ol( o 

• d "ii not altering 3 our hj mn 

regardn tin- first iwn vitm-s. Tin- two 

I your changes are, I 
ya kept a hymn 



^ < »l III Wli \ . .1 SCI M \MI« H 

In ol 
1870, 

not 

■ 

• \\ . 

■r a fmi.T. | 

in 1 In. h '!"• ti .i in. i 

kin.!, \\hil»- thOM uln.li appeal up' 

nut ur.' make more freqoej 

I 

•_'. l s 7l 
li\ in: 

I 

plinn ' M 

..f tl 

. ..in- 
then H 

■ l.rii.u\ 1 . 1^71. 

• >r m\ : 

in \..nr i 

H 

• 
to t! | | " 

And again on 

jroa, 

anj thing ■ 
In itill 

.i jnd 

and I all 



:.i i:i. w \i;i» <»l.l\ 1:1; WOLOOTT 

Yom • adi lee his father to 

her than poetical •• follow- 

illL' !'■ ' ■■■■->. I "" 

BDtiooed in mj letter lail week that 
your article In the 1 It l remember 

f the article In ■ lermon 3 on 
peat anmmer. 1 bare been thinking of ■ grand 
rblefa I think yon conld accomplish moal in 
rriting op the EScnmenical Council tor tome ft 
if I had the age and the sbility, there is aothing 1 would 
rtudy the Romish Ohnrch from the Oonncil 
.•Mt in the sixteenth century to the present time and follow 
.1111.il Don litting, in Eta deliberation! ind then write op 
the ■ ib you would think 0! it. 1 hope 

yon will determine opon baring at least one prose article 
each hymn. For l think the one Improves the 
other. 

ge advice for a young man jual paal twenty' 

; -.. And him taking oote of a Dewspaper controversy 

hich his father had engaged over the question of the 

puleorj oae of the Bible In the public schools, In which 

in- lwnl taken the uegi ng with and com' 

mending him, Edward wrote, Jolj ~. 1870: 

I 1 ■ . .. : 1 n far the 1 

1 think, 1 -|ii-i i.iii\ when he 

1 ami shutting tht- Bible 

1 ea, bon ever, I think, 

• red, though I am oof certain. 

:-■-- thall 

ihment of religion 

bether it - ould prohibit 

I ih ink a 

t and the at bool 

DStom drop this ll I think 

11 infringemenf on 

• for the rapport of public 

■ •: • brines Instilled 

• 1..IH- hurtful. I think 
yoa I imp true course, but I should think, from the 



VOUTH \ \l« VOI m . MAM 

■■niir char 

■ 

H 
to follOK in ' 

>f liii love of .1 joki 

• i- 1 1 • i - 

h .ink with hit (i iiig ill-- 

u.iv broaqoe and i 

nil Ktrictui 
w ng nny pn 

■ from t! ■ 

whetl 



Atul inn till U . 

I 



era], 

Let • 

Th»- 



i:i«\\ \i:i» OLIVEB WOLOOTT 

!i,\ misfit \sh;it dO these *>i^rn> betok 
6 ;ui<I I n til In • 

I 

replj was u prompt as It was crushing. 
u. January Llth, inn bii letter had ool 

red "ii the 15th, \vln*n 1M uiMrrKsttl Inin again, saying: 

• You make do commenta on 'ii«* poetry <>f the two 
i you, I am writing a Byron end until yon 

write me that my prodnctiom are unmistakable trai . I 
shall probably continue to gush." 

The father's remarki mnai bare been received 
afterward Sere Ii a bat be aaid : 

be 6th| with original ■tansae, perplexed and troubled 

ui.-. ii i« the Brat thing irhich l remember to bate 

'•■•in yonr pen, which, like your penchant f<>r ■ boman skull, 

mental idiosyncrasy, h was a suggestion <>f some 

thing written In ■ tn of ■omnambuliam, «>r drawn from 1 1 » • - tonrce 

aspiration. Wt were even apprehensive that 

if yon wi .1 little deranged. If a\\ tag 

rh_\ii - : sifirr I ha*! |';i»m-<I imv ."..'■ th l»irtlula\ rn<nui 

of iii\ children t.. do i' before they bate reached iin-ir 
I himii feel that I bar* made i double mlitafce. 

Be afterward referred i<> the "effort" ai .1 j«'k<-. 
ther it waa rack or aot the criticiam was effective 1 
reply, <lat<-«i February 6th, follows: 

chewing n|'" m> effosion wsi duly re 
I ban e world will nerer am mj "poem" Dor 1 

■ Og paSSSg ; • lire. 

that at til • felt that 1 bad .1 gift that way, 

• >ii r letter ban disillusioned • dying notei of 1 ii«- 

ipromptu 
Ii the la^t that Edward, the Bon of 
1 • 1 » . will en 

: 1 1 1 1 »- 1 n't 1 rite 

M\ 1 

• r |.r<>l>'l>l.\ think* In- 's ri^'lit ; — 

1 jealoui " - retur '".' 



JTOUTB \ M» JfOl SO MANHOOD 

It was while '■ 

tainted hi Mi.tiius. ripf. .in.! 
the memben of » be I 

..-.i i. mi bat t fun 

In fr 

I 

■ 
upon the 

■ 

\ 
unci 

- in the h 

If] 

for • 
roar 
dent froi 

.•f .! 

the nataide Q] 
fhar the your 
in the iraj 

mv ri 

• • It will 1 



i:i»\\ ai;i> < >i.i\ 1:1; w OLC< itt 

.11 be little 1 although 

all 1. in oi nkiiivl thai for the last 

....•ii to me 1 ■-■ 1 : • — because 1 uronH 
_• and plaj backgainnion and i>< • 

1 prayer' 

weeks later he a p 

quire \\ hat yoo \\ iah me 

1 neceai ■ -•■ the bal n end nnlnter 

• l mental application." 1 gel all ged some- 

1 find difficulty in : 'l daring 

m\ 1 ii;i: I ,iv.- ;m I reading. 

the lack <>f oooeentratlon hi reading the r- as 

you, the o B irdaj afternoona 1 

ill.- Pnblic Library t.. ipend them, and 1 

mpoauiblc for me ti >me article 

in some "f tin- Engliah reriewi that 1 know I ought i" read, 

end which perhaps Mr. Russell has advised me '<• read. 

An.i ;i fortnight afterward : 

I ;iim a lnili- <! ■ • • ! ;ii ool receiving those 1 Ici from 

1 think yon had better direct them »<> tin- Winthrop 
1 u.t". about two thirds through the &n\ rolume of 
v when l came to the 
and found it Impoaaibli d without an Atlas, 

I l» but ■ limited time from the Public 

i had t>> return it and shall not take it out again 

■•• i I have finished Froud* >\ am ju*i beginning 

all take op tin- con 

1 wiah, Father, thai 700 would, at your 

of I on an) budj< 1 ■ - 11 intory, 

to n ad. 1 mean t«> 

■ 

d then in. dole and i 1 hi -c 

the young Minimi s|„;ik s udiuiringlj of 

■ • I ;/-;?!'/. he eaj a, " I 

1 bare thia" in 

•• 1 'i.i\ e -i \ arj 

•I f'»r all that In- R litis." 

then pi'" ••'■•is t.i comment apon an attack apon 



^ I >l 111 Wh '! Wll'" n 

tin- I 

am ' 

rell ond( 

■ 
timpU 
Mr v 

ibonl 

much more ' 

irron 

Impr 

i doo*1 think It irai .1 

an. I 

w Bod in Mr 
lectin -. 



i:i»\\ ai;i» OLT\ EB WOLOOTT 

• tares bj Ralph Waldo Emerson. 
M • Eb erson n\ hich Mr. vVoleotl at- 
tended irere on the distinguished author**! favorite thei 

lentaliam, "not twentg words <>f which <"ui<l I 

understand," I Thai letter «;ts written in December, 

and writing ;• year later in- proi jive a detailed 

tmt of Mr i arson's lectures on the human intellect, 

which in- prononncee u qnite intereeting and Instruct 

If the fnller account was written it baa not been preserved. 

1 : ; i r- 1 \ in December, L869, Mr. Wolcotl t.-ik ..f having 

i ;i lectnre for the first time by Wendell Phillips, and 

. never enjoyed a pnblie address more. " l think.'* 

be saya, "1 - ityle ie magnificent Mr. ffoanoll says the 

(evolutionists an- his ideal Mirabeau, and the 
w .' conrse folly, but hit manner <>f laying 

wonderful." April «;. 1^7". we are told: " I have bad 
iplendid intellectnal treat* since I wrote last; one, last 
hearing President Woleej "i» I : • P 
P i-. bn( especially lasl evening when David Dudley Field 
-.•ntat i<m «.f \| inorlt ies " He adds : 
i think I D( ned to so instructive b lecture. He 

• •■l how onjustlj 1 1 1 « - people were represented in our 
. >-t .-in <>f elections, and suggested several reme< 
ed .it many fans be laid before as, aa, for 
pie, that t thirty-two United States 

vote ■ New 1 ork State casts for 
' ] eard and greatly admired Phillips Brooke. 
3, 1 870, M p w oli ol of tli<- honors paid 

I lurlinga bis death, iaj 

l w- nl ilnll In Pi ' •■ when Rurlingame laj in 

! iaw the fnneral procession The 

i; the Lai 

:m i Ie isj i be • ii 'ii<- most ambl 

1 Ii office under 

■ ipeotstion that ' be 

mi to the l 

thiol - it It than anj civilian In the 

bard that ipeot iii 4 - whole 

it "iT when ii«' was sear the 

- 



N I M I II \ \l» . UAN1KNI 

■ 
of th< W 

of these 

- i 

ii. 

of Webster, <'l 

■ 
■ 

it rai the opposite, th< 
often 

W 
w under the date of N ■ ■:• 17. i»i i 

imjin " EttMMll. N 

in tome 
ofl nil nunal pjrroti 

■ 

i and fn 

mber 8, 1870 

I nm very inu.h ' 

■ 

S 



i:i»\\ ai:i» < »u vi.i; w < >LC< >TT 

i in. h teem 

thing 

but • - : \ Friday 

the young man's observationa confined entirely 

ipon which he was reading He began thus 

life t" iliink along Independent line* on national 

a, and that hi> thoughts were quite radical mi 

inferred from the following extract from a letter »«» hia 

father written Maj 27, 1871: 

made f<»r the obserraii< • 

OW. It IS, I think, a foolish CUBtom. 

■ eotion "f soldiers' monuments. 

iuioh iii MaMtachiiM e, and in iift.\ yean our 

desci'iniants will cart them t" the <-«mi • o gel 

ght the reminden of ■ war between brothers. Half 

made f<T political • 

d1 found that Santo l logo fell flat ; 

: 

n \\i mum; 

\\ . let ters much concerning hi* 

and like auh 

em in an interesting way. Re 

a limit of fiftj dollars a month for 

! difficult] iii living as his 

;i young man he required the 

• it. and a bile he dei otes pagt 

mat ter ol tig, it id e\ ident 

hich afterward became bo pro 

douh I not intended to repro 

the subject The 
from :» l< i April L9, 1870, \\ ill 

it : 

u ben I left home. Theg bate 
pd, bul thei -I deal of wet 

:<-, thick • .mr| 

! of panti I bought here the 27th 



rouTn AND 

..f \v,-.ii Itill ' 

I 
B] 

a long 



log • 

on 01 

likr • 

• 
dollars, n hi< h pri< 

That. 



i:i»\\ ai;i» < »u\ EB w I >i.« < A "i" 

round in the announcement that be bad 
it for himself a fourteen-dollar pair o! si 
Ifanj . d boardii - were made, and Hie 

■ rally w as the beti We find him tiwajfl 

for well-fitted rooma, and, young ai be waa, be 
si surroundings Id hia boarding plat ea. « ta one 

• i u i ►• hi a long argument to rapport bia 
that it was better for him »<• i>«- at a hotel than 

at a private boarding-house Be then contemplated locating 
in B< •! attorney, and even at that earlj date Looked 

forward t.» entering apon a political d which event 

in- waa of "|»ini..ii that residence at a I » « » t « - 1 would be of 

unce t" liim than a borne In a family 
rammer montha were generally apent at country pi 

Mr W father adopted the general plan of sending 

:i dollars each week with which to paj bia current 

-».-s. ; i • 1 . 1 i 1 1 •_: iii"]v when iii'irssan tn mie extra- 

demand, and he required not only a strict acknowl* 

• ipt of the money, but a detailed statement 
«.f the expenditure, which, while cheerfully given when It 
could be given at all, still appears to have been the subject 
of in. little care to young Wolcott He always was Lmpa- 

l, and it ni;i\ readilj beauppoaed that he found 

. bat difficult to keep an act a >unt of all hia 

Ifore than once his memoranda were lost, and it 

Dfrequentlj happened that. ewii when these data were 

furii mil 1 items were missing. In either event we 

find him making due explanation and Eranklj acknowledg 

■ p of i kkeeping. 

oot the ails Of his . 1 i 1 1 i 

rll ]i ., •, i\ to r.-iate a few Inataneea 

the p nr poae of showing the character of the boy, who, 

i,, r proved to be the father of 

• in i: .;. account yon will notice an item of fifty 

n ;i letter tO his father written 

Id D 369. Hi a hotel, :in<l 

[plain : •• \\ hen I • ame to the bouse i 

■ a left th< outaide their doore. 

In rged for cleaning them, but 

.ini.l a hill in mv shoes for two weeks at 



VOUTH \ M» fOUNfl MANHOOD 

ID f.. ;i v.. • 

if be I 

belpi 

I 

\ 

bad i 

ten ' 

ien ing h i in -••! f In th 
Mr w 

• ir would 

f>»r him. 

ROIIIUtl ll 

I • 

- 
more libei 

bad I 



oJl ' 



* i VHv- ex aJV^ VjOviUL, 



•A- 

- ' 

K r\ n~*s\- -~ ft- 



5 







H. VrJK ft A ^_ 










i 



I 
holding f-»rth DlghtJj In fr-h? ..f tb< 

• • fog f.'i .1 

I 

well t<> do in- 

feel i 

lion, 

the i expran* 

Interest In hli 



i:i»\\ a 1:1 » OLIVEB w 1 >LOOTT 

itut • true 1 ant knoa '■ 

ind of the formation <>f gla 

extent, onlj moving from Castile :m«1 
•.1. M\ ireok li op to-morrow, and 1 shall 
• rning ei oog|| i M ii H - evening! <>f <'ii«- 
rapport im«- more than two. it maj last bat 1 

bl\ it in;i\ continue f<»r three weeka. 1 Ii«>|m- 
the latter When this lectni n I found mjaelf 

I bought i«" nice ones, ready made, and 
I think thej will 1 through* I'm I maj hare to 

11 - wish thai the lecturing might « -< > n t in m • for some 

length <»f time was ^appointed, for a sreek later, on 

January 18, 1870, we find him writing thai his enp 

men! bad or four days previously. He could 

i) with i .'ih <.n condition thai he would take 

enough each day to attend to the advertising. Thai 

>uld 1 1 • • t <i" and give proper attention t" his studies, 

and he accordingly declined. 

inal, the experience broughl Mr R I into a line 

n. 1 he «ii«l nol fail to see wherein it bad been 

nee t«» him. It had given him confidence before 

;m audience, bul at the tame time it bad shown him that, 

. •• he w;i- rerj deficient in extemporary speaking." 

included thai he muni cultivate this habit 

. u qj also \ aluable to him Id anol her re- 
Through it he found iii s mice " 1 don'l mean to 
callj ." he aaj a, " bul I bai e d la< 01 ered 
an nnuaually fine roice for public speaking, 

• i in .1 ral her Ml'Ii kej \ ■ 1 pari of the 

time l have been troubled with ;i severe cold, bul my roice 
:u the lea 

am money 
• if and :i» ins father's objec 

the Line of buaineaa in which in- had been engaged, 

Mr. W 

loubtedh linnet tied me nomewhal In mj studies, for 

Thai 1 ihall gel over now, bul it learei me 

and some sray to 1 arn 



KOUTH AND MAXUtX . • 

li..ur* <lin 

I 

tin- '• 

the youi 

U|m.|i li : 
e .1 in-. nth ..r 
two days whil< 

1 
M i \' •• I I'm. I I b 

I 
no ten 

In t!i. 
fr.'iu in.: 
v.. u will | 

will pleane *«'n«l m- 
will • 

\\\ \\ 



i:i»\\ \i:i> <>i.i\ i;i: w i >LCOTT 

Ing ;: ;•. all. I (li< 

• uini in rhe habit was probably 

.in.* to poor health, from which at this period he lafflered, 

. the explanation mad.' 
, ifeaan Russell, who attributed It t<> 

i >i f hii recitali on thii subject is suffl* 

\\ !■:• ,i • .1! her, -i one 28, i v 7o. he saj i ! 

I hail a delightful • last night 1 have jni 

to nrj irding-place in Rfedford — the home bj t 1 1 * - wi 

rtly with ladiea— and last evening 
about n ::i». half an hour after 1 had retired, l treated them 
t.. the ile nightmare l hare ere? Indulged In, 

1 feel i little need np to daj . I did nM frvi 
erday, and to ate no rapper buf I cracker and I 
cup ol •• i ''i -l" anything t<> rid myaelf of theae turns, bat 
ii if they would never leave me. 

' SQ 0O1 I i:n mini' SflEI !' I 

While still in the Lai School, and even before he went to 

hool, Mr. Wolcott became quite impressed with the idea 

• Ing an appointment in th«- nervice of the National 

ernment, probably with the vieu of earning enough 

e him independent while pursuing his studies, 

acquaintance anion- public men, 

inclu - Belknap, who was A connection by 

Pomeroy, the latter of Kan#fl% and 

\ptii. l^T'i. Ed began trying to persuade his 

•o lin.i a place for him In the 

i □ bis first let ter, he saj i 

i f \.. e, it win be ever] thing to 

i nothing, i Its. 
rtiofl of i - s ork a hicfa test has 

d which D U Well 1><- pa'-s.il in pmlltnhle 

now. if i oould get the 

I would v i hip \\ hi'h 

i i "iii. i 1 1 ■ . i u « - profitable 

• ; inclined to encourage offl< 
prompt replj . saj ing 



JTOUTH IND YOU St] " 
f.»r i: ■ od, will U 

1 

i;.l would !>•• ' 

Um b 

in \\rit;n. 

mi I thlnl 
blind] 

i 

llllll ! 

When 

■ 

t • 

■w, am I 

onlj 

•II . 



i:i»\\ ai;i» OLIVBB w « iU « »tt 

:r ahonan call! work ■ kail «'•■ 

for It - l " ihin stumps"? and then, 

you will achieve \uiir fortune in it. " In-art within. 

I i : for 

- tOOl, makil all. I know- 

that it is imwiM to borron trouble hron th«- future; and 

I calmlj and contentedly leave It all In Qod's hands 
JTou, i j -"ii. maj do 
certain that yon could be aided In your 
— but four months long) bow much yon maj to 

me, with I g on an onreJ 

if the ; Fulfilled neither your hopea nor mine, do 

opportunity i"- marred bj anj deapert 
■ Hi remember that the N< - the time 

i .niii them, and fortifj them with a 
our oa n. 

»tt alao had aome advice to give about 

ipoa o! ber son's state of mind. Be seems 

to hare fallen into s despondent mood short} before bis 

uation, "tn of which both his father and mother were 

ag their best endeavors to ralh him. w i 

■■•. 1871, only s month before his Anal tern closed 

and evidently in reply to s letter from him, lira. IVolcoti 

nhlrcKsiMl him : 

\\ by, mj son, b een the nnhappieat year yon bai 

pAMM-tl'.' l Nupi>ofMi| you were ver) happy, and were looking 

...ii. though we wh< 

and bow 
f themaelTei or their friends. 
',.n u blch • rated 

■ 

I't \ I I' iN 

• iii'-w hat ahead <>f the main I bread ..f 

..wr Ntory, which neces als with Mr. Wolcott's pro- 

: the Harvard Law 
afterward h<- located in s boarding- 



N < 'I III \ M> ^i i .! \« , MAMIi 
Ip.ii-. 
in.-ri' 

1 fad 

fln.J 

(he n 

I Dp "ti ''' 

i hopeful !!..■ 

future than i 
8 

■ 
them on 

.l.mu.ir\. 1871 

■ urt cam Invol 

them 

main the 
con( i 



i:i»\\ \i:i» <>i.i\ 1:1: vYOLOOTT 

in the !• ini <»f the m< there 

ih Further reference to the 3 for the purchase ol 

hooka, 11. ,t « . 1 1 1 \ for dm In tin- school, bat for the adornment 

future las library, r appears that the young 1 

dfather then had been appealed '<> and lia<l made aim 

a loan with which to Inn tln-sc works, s,, n,., . . him 

and afters 

(Oth "f April, L871, to ■ question from 
. when he would be able to begin the practice 

of liis profession, Mr. Wolcott said: 

I think I shall i>«- by the end of rammer. Perhaps, 
iburae thinks ii is \rv\ unwise foi anj 
Into practice shun of three Tears' hard itudy, but the 
rer <ii<i It I enclose ;i 1 
[obb in answer to iuic I w rote him to 

■ unit} in :ui o lalarj or with some 

lawyer. I hope yon won't delay writing t«» him, for 1 
.|«-;ii will be gained if I can itart In my profession with 
tainty fop the first two or three yesn of an income. Suc- 
cess, I am reasonably confident, would come In time, but if I 
started alone it would be after yean <>f poverty and toiL 

June 17th he telle hie father that after the close of the 

ed to stu.h H], the statutes, pleadings, and the 

truss parti ol peal property las and get admitted 

r •• 'I e Maasachusel ta bar," he 

any in the Qnited Stan - \n 

everywhere, and if 1 pass 

nation i,, \\ \ shaii feel confident to hang out 

• • 1 can have 1 he ose 
ion.'* in the same letter, Mr, 

u probeblj heard bj tii<- circular tent yon sometime 

ember of the 

! ' 1 870, whi , . ■ . , must 

■ old men get it without. 1 entered for 

' in- ini.isi of it. \\ e an 

•unit.' : -lit siu. I • ..f u hirh w «■ have 

on :it Mil this rear and 1 hare 1 »* -* - r » stud?* 



jroi 1 11 \m» jtoi so m \Mi" 

! Aril. 

■| liii.il ;ui.| !i.ij.|.\ ■ 

tnd on i 

. inf.. rin • 

. 

harder '• 
About I 

If i 

• DMT in Dlnd t ha • 

Mr. V m bf 

bad boped to 'l". bnl left for i> 



FIRST YEARS IN COLORADO » 

COLORADO claimed Mr. Wolcott rerj i i after in* 
bad concluded hia Ian courae Be irai partial to 
•II. and would have located In thai city for the 
practice of liin profession if conditiona had been favorable, 
ivering thai there were more than eight hundred 
lawyi . he conclnded that, without meana, ai he wan, 
would i>«- little opportunity t" gain a foothold. k< 
oglj, we find liim returning to hi* home In Cleveland 
aftei ■■ of hia term In the latter part of June, i v 7i. 
with hie much priaed diploma In oil pocket We may Im 
in in enjoying himself for a brief period with hia family, 
and then starting ont to win his fortune in the far Wi 
in what t<» him waa practically an unknown land. 

dence that the young man waa Irresistibly 

[o'a aake < londitiom rather 

than hia on ii inclination decided hia choii I d after he 

surrender iiis ambition of remaining In 

ed at ;i leaa remote place if 

bad Incement In riew of hia wonderful 

. . then a territory, and be- 
rach a favorite then-, it would 
ml that it had long been predetermined 
Miii. i proceed t" t hat terrl 

: and if this 1 <T<- a ii"\ el 
■. that turn COUld !•«• given t 1 ,.' narrat i\ ••. The 

• bat m r w ol( ot t went t«> < Solorado 

be for the practice 

' ace of hia brother 

• ritory led him to t urn his at tent i<>n 
thithem ard. 



YOUTH AM' 
bond of union 

wit), 

bowei 

him 

qaentlj ■ 
would (•• 

inu' 

an- 1 

C. Pomeroy, 

him to in 

tli.> 

w 

made 

doubtless if he I 
an offl< ial ft] 

P 



i:i»\\ ai:i> OLIVEB W i >L< X » i T 

seek- I thifl fail- 

ure ■ w >lcott turning hfo bs^ on the u Sunflower M 

ed upon hia w eetern course. 
•r bed pi i brother bo Colorado, 

: rived, been located i here for about ts <> 
al t "it\ in ill*- neighbor* 
: -»f which place the lirst important discover] <>f L ',>i.i in 
redo had \>*t-u made onlj ten yean i- i entral was 

■ •initv s*-at « »f liilpin <\>uni\. ;m<l on til 1 I r.\ of 

• h depot i i ek, t hat ton n remained the 

centre o! the gold producing district in the B 

Indeed, in thai earl] day, Gilpin was th ily county in 

- prodnclng q d in quant Ity. < m 

urn it was i be He i of all the treasui 

n jion. i »'-n\ sr a at t he capital of 

• ■ • State, and was the 

important trading centre of that section <>f the Rock] 

"ii : inn it w;t«* entirely dependent upon the 

lurrounding region for its existence, and Gilpin County iras 

the moat important <>f all its feeder s . Central naturally 

pe, and in a<l«lit i< >n man\ Dl 

• location there in consequence of its 

importance the town became the home of many 

lawyer! and writeri of ability, and its banks and other 

ini* «-s soon .anif to in- known f<»r their itability. 

in those dayi one heard seldom of Gilpin County, for 

•i Count) waa "The Kingdom of Gilpin." Named In 

Gilpin, the first chief executive of the 

terrlt county w.i>- destined to give to the State In 

the person* of II< rj m Teller and : B Chaffee the 

and in the person 
; l i lelford, wl Coj dubbed t he " Red 

I 

o 
p Mill another of th< 8 
m the upper Hon and in Henrj 

B w • • • Stab ■ f it- earl) 

.■ 

• \>\ and silver and the 
ral deve - bad the effect <>f 



Mil III \\h 

be »*ii 
baa beld 

i 
i 

Diner »f I - 
i 

■ 
nn» nmrthoaatn 
i 

men 

fli;ii 

population <>f onlj 
log bad been 

n <»ii t! • 
ami u n oi j •*- 
then 

Lett 
to and i 

I ha • 



i:h\\ .\i;n <»i.i\ i;i; Wi.i.iiitt 

made Dp my mind that In jean tl i become 

the richei >n 1 ban Although they bare 

working their minea nou for nearlj ten yean they 
hare but madi be writes 

in i l ■ •• i iik«* thii country rery much Indeed. 

Then is the Btrongeat kiinl "f fascination about It, and if 

ong man on© be cannot belp doing well 

if then i- anything in him and be doee himaell fnal 

ii - dee re then was to obtain a position aa a clerk In a 
i»;mk. when high aalariea wen paid, bnt in thia ambition 
in- « icceaafnl, and aoon afterwanl in- turned bia 

ntion i" mining He already bad made friends, and 

writing briefly of the people of the section, said: "Then 

ire not, of course, many one people ben, but what then 

re among God'a chosen few, or I lose my and 

again, December l'1>i, ihi> time to Bd : 

the place for me. Hare just fitted ap ■ alee i m 

■ tting along Brat rata Hare alreadj ;> g l reputation 

for milling among the miners Hare been studying assaying, 

for the past two weeks. I reached Colorado with thirty 

.11 pocket and aot eren an acquaintance. Un aome 

ahead, but am going '<> put it :ili ini<» ;i mine I bare 

leased. 

ber enticing letter, and a longer •. was Bent i<> 

the brother, who then was poring orer bia i as in Boston, 

on the it'll of January, L870. [\ unx full «»f hope and of 
in over i M If I ei er make a fort one 

l t-\j ii be m:i«i«' in Colorado/ 1 he said, in tn 

be hi be added, " I 

ii in mining." 
He then the following captirating pictun of 

i il<l like t<> -■•«• von. I'.'l. :in<l "in here, 

plendid fellowa hen; plenty "f 

ading mal ter, lota of a I and 

h;i\<- i hoi nt ) ; _: ■ » - > « i bed blan 

and i hare a deriliah imart 'dorg. ,w Bunly 

• r could I": uch allunment 

from Hei > bia brother, which 



N < »l 111 A M» VOI v -' • M iMICNHl 

be had onlj 

■ ml of .1 month be wan i I ui 
end of torn ibool ereo, i 

i i . .. . • ■ i 

on i 

fen montha, but did • 
the men \\<>ui<l work n 

• I I !■ 

11. u In. 1 1 

found 'i • 

idda, ■■ I 

H 

II. 

manager will 
quite, fiii.il to thor 
in tin- Mill w.rks ..ii i 

It. ii, f| 

flu- t u.. j.l.i. p# until t! • 

»rid 

The m 

half a million 
tailings, and n 



i:i»\\ \i;i» OLIVER WOLCOTT 

all tl • BWSU- 

teparatioD. l ihall keep I attend to 

luaineas. 

prodocl of the establishment for 1870, the year 

Mr \ ed it, was f 650, ; ten years later, dj 

jsor Bill's management, the figure bad incn 

Hill worka were located at Blackhawk, onlj a 
mile or t^<» down the gulch from Central, these two bowna 
ther with Nevadaville practically constituting one city. 
Combined, the thn bad a population "f I 

number. 

in: way 

idea was to Inform his brother regarding 

: tions and prospecta rather than to influence him to 

hi Colorado la made evident by the fact thai in one 

of in 4 - lettera he advised him to make aure of employment 

• \ place. He wanted him with him In 

i rado, I'Mt he also wanted him '<> ascertain before going 

that there would thing for bim to do and a 

• i\ for him when ii«- should arrive To thia end 

tiations were opened with Attorney Hugh Butler, wli<» 

doing ;i thriving business in Blackhawk, with a riew 

t«. arranging ;i partnership for r.-i. While this negotiation 

ilta in the direction intended, it waa one of 

which Influenced the young lawyer to 

i 

dired from < 51ei eland to ( Solorado. 
He i "ii the a ay, «li«- fli ' Icsonville, 

Illinois, where an uncle, Bllsur Wolcott, 
.i e of bia operations, be entered upon 

on roundabout with ;i 

place of business 

f..r :i yo rnej Uncle Blizur had resided In Jack* 

He f..r i! ani ioua to bai e I Sd | -^- 

rhere in thai riclnity, and 

•mil' man made an effort to connect himself 

•i Ja< ksom [lie. Palling in 



1 

upper SI 

H 

■ 

DO d 

1 

f him which remind* i 
• •iiflini- flu- u<l\.u 
.; in [llioo 

nnlv • ul.l lit 1! 

I 

Ignoi 

inuiiir \ " 1 1. 

nn«l Ihi 

If I 

- 

feaaion. ami I >'■ 'hat. 



i:i»\\ \ i; i ► i u.i vi:i: w « >i.< < m 

•• and n ut finding anything i tiers, to Colo- 
bention * Senator Pomeroj , 

and if he did not succeed in interesting that gentleman io 
behalf, i<> proceed westward* Further, ii had been 
»u l a i ii t thai if both ventures >ii"ui«l prove an- 
il he Bhould t 1m- n return to Jacksonville and take op 
of Ian "ii his own account, which h<- seemed 
inclined to <i". Memphis, Tennessee, and enter upon 

a bun eer. 

»nlj ditl Senator Pomeroj fail t<» offer anj substan 

tial inducements to Mr Wolcott to remain In Kansas, but 

be made an unfavorable impression on the young man. The 

. r\ told the youthful fortune-hunter thai M he 

would '1" anything tie could for him.'* bu1 <ii<l nothing. 

otly, Mi Wolcotl soon discovered thai h<- could expect 

1 i 1 1 It- more than agreeable assurances from the Kan* 

man. ami uliai he beard from Senator Pomeroy's neighbors 

•lid iiui |irtjH>s.v,-ss him in tin* Senator's favor. " Thej tell 

I-. i.l • Pomeroj in Kansas," he wrote to hi- father 

after hi* arrival in Colorado, ami. adding his own impres 

• >f him, he -nil. •• \\\ opinion is that in- is a thorough 

demagogue, though in the better sense "f i i • * - word, if ii has 

. not a bad man." The onlj real gratifying 

results <>f ins gtop in the Sunflower State were the pleasant 

• ma. it- i.\ people \\ li«» had become acquainted with 

del Wolcotl - an ti -slavery views Speaking "f this 

i ■ '■ eral gent lemen, "hi set i lers 

i j all knew you, and all spoke of you, the 

• I in i he remark of one of them 

lung man. your father has got a heap of stock 

in this 

■ rot i;n \ i Bl \< mi \w K 

i rena to Blackball k. w here 

in the Hill works, Mr. 

»n about September 20, I v 7 1. 

red "in and unwell/' aa he wrote hi- father 

II. found the pi tor an en 

! Butler urn e thai gentle 



^ i »i in \ \i» vol so m \ Mi"- 

man bad 

In \ i.-u . bo* 

f..r the lime; bo I 

;in.| 
u.ir. 

school 

tlu» nun 1 he I 
n( from 

folio* 

If I 

at $1 

■ 
tie fnrn it-, 
r willing 

- 
I I 

■ 

f..r me here N 

for it. 
I bad 

1 ha\- I tit). I I 



i:i»\\ \i;i> i >u\ 1:1: w 1 \U < >TT 

. and if 1 can get 

Memphis, 

ad to pej Henry. Should 1 

itart it 

and tnortifl 1 unite 1 1 * i -~ letter, bill l must 

it. 

In the aame l«-t t *-r he telle of • ible news rrom 

Mr. Bo tier, adding that thai gentleman had expressed .lis 

appointment <»\<-r tin- fact thai he could not take him In 
witli him. Se then refers to the gugge&tion bj Mr. Butler 
that he should local >u n. 

11. '!: Woloott] anziooi that 1 should settle In 

d, ;i place of some 8000 Inhabitants, twentj miles 

from Oentral and growing. Be aai promised bis Influence 

be can w ad n a 1 >•• ssj - thai after the 

jit months I could support myself, and soon be 

making monej. And \n lallj anxious that I should 

the arrangement be has partially made may still 

fall through, in irhich event he could talk with me, and iranta 

- 1 [( :nitv. 1 f 1 could get 1 1 year 1 irould 

iik<* no better place than Oentral In irhich t<' locate. 

og tip the subject again In a letter <»f the 29th 0! 

.• announced his Arm conviction that he should 

n and added : " The place i s groi Ing op 

derfully of late. The mines there are doing splendidly 

and are all mora or lean Involved In litigation. Butler and 

the other leading 1 \ anxious that 1 should 

',■1 asxim- iif as I heroine 

rnrthcri I' • II II had promised Id 

"ii all ore from < leorgeto* n which 
aid send to th< 11 i smelter. 

time he bad consummated the arrangement to 

bort t ime 1 i lied, would be 1 rery 

• -iii and would bring him In only a email 

to paj es f or the time and to 

ome of the money he had been com- 



jroi in \\i» 

pelh ron from 

•• I fa and I think I 

Ann- .'in- ■ 
•• ill. 

I 

but elthi 

■ 

II- 

i.iwn.'* irhlfl 

1 

\\ |e Mr W 

of people Ih 

■ I w lull- 

• 
knoi od J-.--- 

til. Ill' 

tend) 

In* 1 • 

w itii and 

urvr .-f 
thai Mr 



i;i.\\ \i:i» < »i.i\ 1:1: w I »i.< « »tt 

ii\ -it-.. 11- as ;ui instructor In grammar and 
. irai not partial to mathemat 

IN | ,\ \ 

Mr v. i mi during tin- < !hriatmas 

1871, and there in- remained until in- removed i>> 

I ».n\ i ro months ai a teacher he 

earned about s::«Mt. ami bin : a portion "f this 

-urn be at list was prepared, although poorlj Prom a tinan- 

cial standpoint, t.. enter anon hi- lif«- a- a lawyer. The 

part made l: I bj Mr 'I'. II Potter, •> Central 

banker, "f whom Mr. Wolcott speaks a- -'a friend sent 

!!• a a location an. I arranged for a partner* 

ship Nothing was l«-ft i" !»<• done Inn to bare a sign painted. 
ii - ■ ■ i was .1 young Bontherner aamed Pope, Prank 

\ I';. » known to the people of Colorado aa" J udge" 

gentleman lia<l been eatabliahed in Georgetown 
for some time, and Mr. vVolcott tells us had bad a prac 

during the previous year amounting to |2° which it 

believed could be increased during the following twelve 

mont inducement to go In a itli him was 

that be bad an office and wan pontesm*] -.f a law 

liiir.r which were of do mean importance 

• Mr w tt'« depleted finances and hi- lack of 

law ! ■ - The p. n hi. •rsiiiji did aot cont inu< 

while N 1H3 impressed i.\ Mr Pope's ability, Mi- 

ni.- convinced that be was disinclined t<» 
.in. I. wl im as a " ^<><«\ fellow, with fair 

:i..n .is ii in |i- 

i w lull- lic» remained i tow n, be 

nued « ii i, ..ii' \\ ben he first arrived, M r. 

inable to bar bet ause 

mtrolling -inh admission This circumstance 

• uni ii i v 7::. during a hicfa ' ime bis 

wl to I 

i mil tin- \.nniL' at torney to 

he found it convenient to 

do in a is brother 8am, written .hi the 29th of 



\<»l III \M» \*>\ 

I ' 
tln- 

\ 

■ 
I 

QMMBM>« >. OHtfOBT, 

■ 

I 

■ 
Then « ' 




























i:i>\\ \i;i> < »i.i\ 1:1; w < >U i »ti 

stion of my school year, I bad an oflar 

i \ Pop doing ill*- beet bust* 

dom (perl -riii a partnership with him. 

idaj I • ben be 
day, in front of the pi oudly 

- gn : 

r< .it. ft WOU « ITT 

\\v have nM taken In ■ blamed cent yet ; but I •• live in !i<>|«'<." 
•a rati rely n.-u place, population L500, 
i antral and Blaekhawk and tort} lite 
en rather dull, bnt m Ithin 
othe large, true silver minee <>f enormoni ralne 
ery li vt-l y. 
I think m \- chance i good one and mean ho itich to it. 
i ■ p .lit a* i bare done. 

\ - i . ■ • • \ our brol ber, 

i . 

Mr Wolcott arrived in Georgetown, thai place 

abon< ii\' years old, but only recently had it 

• int.. any prominence. Located practically at the foot 

of the towering mountain known ai Gray*! Peak, one of 

the man) high moantaini in Colorado, it rents 

at tip- bead of ■ comparatively level ralley, with mountains 

• in three different directions, all "f which 

■ •■ and were believed to !•<• "ribbed 

• ion li an at trad h >■ one, and is made 

ail the i • the fact that the south fork of Clear 

of the perpetual snows of 

wa\ through the heart <>f the little 

The altitude "f the town is high, and ordinarily the 

• M ; but the summer cl Lmoat perfect, 

sation to the real 

it w ill have i • red that in one of hli letten m r. 

w ion of the town w hen he went 

then i • ii probable that 



STOUTD \m» 

ill I 

in i! 

• •mi: 

there w ei 

had been NQl I 

town u.i 

oatpul of the LetdriUi 

who 

both "1 

I. Ilr. I U 1* 

proda< live Itut, whili 
the I 

in the iH.r.l.-i 

• »f i 

B 

doubled 

1*7 J. 

■ 



i:i»\\ \i;i> OLIVEB w I >I> « »tt 

were opei fen days, it was believed that the conn- 

..f iiiiimI.i wealth, .hi. I people flocked in 
\ o t i . 1 1 b 1 1 1 . - 

blished ; fairlj l""»i hot built; two or three 

banks were located in the town, and for a time there were 
publ o <lail\ newspapers Denver waa the net 

on, I'm there w;i^ a well-managed Btage line, 

• numbers <<( peo pie arrived everj day. The for 

mnter was much In evidence and the settlement wore 

.i bustlinf even beyond whal was justified bj th<- 

mining development. Ifanj of the nen arrivala were 

people .if education and refinement, but bj far the larger 

Dumb adventurers, In i "getown was at 

that time a typical mining camp, offering manj Inducements, 

. Iiuwever, were coupled with some hardships and an 

iv mi pre] conditions li should be added that 

me \\ < - 1 1 1 ..n conditions generally Improved until the 

town became, aa it ^tiil la, one of the moat staid and orderly 

in U ■ - 

In hii first letter from Georgetown to bis father, Ifr 

ipeaka of the town aa "a lively little place. I 

i .ii the hotel," he continues, "there i»<iiiL' no private 

rather I'lin- here, among strangers 

.in. I awaj from Henry; but I suppose I shall soon be used 



H-' n office a aa located on II £ el and 

i<- Kinull room. In this, he had a home-made 

. . w hich, ' leman a ho knea him, " be 

deak, and at night, for I bed, 

t upon it blankets which during the daj were stowed 

mvenient i ornt 

r.-ss waa iloi In the beginning, and the 

ng l hat he went Into I leorge 

■ ends and without money, hia lucceaa waa 

<>nh once during the seven years of hia 

mil himself to give attent ion 

buaineaa than the lai ption oc- 



Wl IN \\|» UANIK* 

1 itli \|. \ M • • 

■ In- li bi 

! I 

U .1- 
W .1* 

.111.1 

I 

in 1 1 

I ' 

iM be t! 

ill \ lr\\ ..f t 

He appt 



i:i»\\ \i;i» < » I I \ l i : w < >LC< »tt 

which latl tok much 

<>ii the poll 
■ ii. w h<» w u a . ontemponurj '•' N1 r - 
town and afterward In i Denver and 
ntaoce a ith leman co-existent prac- 

iii Colorado, probably 
qualified 

ar man. n<- baa prepi 
a*ork .i sketch <-f thai portion "f Mr. w..i. 

..u n expi I n i bii < "ii- 

tribntlon Mr. Morrison suppliea an Interest!] m( «»f 

\i: v. ion in the D rea Pelican control 

..f w hi, •». •• the ii ran mining conteal 

incurred in Colorado.'' 01 that litigation, ha 

.• | i\ ami the owners tia.t do morbid 
. i(. rompromia initi <>n the d< 

. multiplied, and, if wt erer oan truth* 
! opoo lawyers, ire 
In thin Instanoa, I '■■• rj lawyer In the 
• d in tome oapaeitj - the im] 

talent 

oot onlj litigation hot t h« j • 
int\ Into feodi; partiaanahip ran Ihl'Ii and i 
part \ had ita sale... ii nn i tie tide ai • 
guard or charged and fought for the 

I it to make tfa m that could hold 

in a month*i tlnx ■ si batl le, mi 

idicial corruption, alleged if 

ae of tin- at torneji ■ for the I ' 

litem nf lli.' I lives. 'I'll.- insult 

the courtrooi! ooolly :ik 

line behind i breastwork <>f 
rnton said, " \ 

i .| the Ui 
, ■ ■ 

I due opoo the < '"l.'ii.-i. w in. h 
• •■i the Union tide, 
: \ paidi 

a the eaai d learned In 'ii«- law, 






yOUTH \M» Vol \«. \! IN •»;. 

uliili' 

I 

'. Mimas, 

ntnl t! ' 

111 " 



r.i'W a i;i » i h.i\ EB w i •!.< « >tt 
first fen mon mj partner returns we will be pretty 

lement <>f the big mining controversy busi- 

tivelj quiet, and our lawyer is found mak> 

to Denver earlj In August in the hope of obtaining 

the DominatioD for 1 > i — 1 1- i « - 1 Attorney on In-half of the terri- 

. in which, while be «li<l no! succeed, we are t.>i,i bj bim 

ili.it be •• made ■ fair run, and would have bad do difficulty 

whatever if mj papers bad been right for admission t" the 

This information ii obtained from a letter written 

• it to his father on August 12th, and other 

out ill*- information that for a time be - 

• • obtaining this Domination That be should 

el lent an impression within the less than 

twelve months' time that be bad been in Colorado certainly 

i»ll for both his legal ability and his capacity for 

making frienda 

Following the effort for ih<- District Attorneyship be dis- 
solved bis partnership with Mr. Pope. Business bad fallen 
and his partner had returned i" <li\i<h- with him the 
• i be "in. e Be ( ii«i Dot enjoj making 
and apparently had reached the conclusion 
that the partner was Dot earning his share <>( the receipts 
ntly, be <!••• ided to dissolve tin- partnership. < '• i\ ing 
him !«• his father, lie -. 3 - ■ Business bas been rerj 
the last i\\<> montha As goon raise the* 

iik»im\ in luiv Home \a\\ 1 ks, 1 shall dissolve n,\ connection 

with er lie is .1 chivalrous, lasj Southerner, gen 

tlemanly, and tut, after all, bii Dame ' Pope 1 [Mr. 

1 about the onlj 

■ nter opon the pract ice alone did 

form until well along in the fall, when, 

out <»f the business 01 er 

• Ir.iu 11. he decided definitely 

h| n " ted in a< ■ ordance with 

on. 

>lution "f p « ame on the first of No- 

we find Mr \\ olcott on the oext daj 

under bin <»\\ u indii idual letter head. 




I . . w 



fOUTH 1ND 

whirli WMM I I 

doodi rid 



•r wntii 
'J I t!i is \\<«rtli i I ! 

It )• 

■ 

1 f«>r Inn 

•lfCraM to 

btmdn 

I • u • 
from 

from thro 
tnd | 



i.i»\\ \i:i» <>i.i\ 1:1: w « >LOt rTT 

• million de 
d tin- territory, ltm the countrj la destined 

- • it ur«-. 

. icover the joang man moralising 
uatiun and uncertainty "f mining aa a buai- 
i .1^ he waa irriting od .1 Saturday night, he 

ght into the condition <>f religiona mat 

u frontier post" at thai time. ItuKineaa was <l<- 

j. !■.•«.>, ,|. • niinei irere not producing xn « * 1 1 . bat 

the reducing worka were not al»i<- \>> handle the 

•• I am." he writ.-*., after midnight following a Satur- 

particularly blue over the outlook, and it 

trred to me aa a bappj thought to write and tell ai • 

Bpeaking of the large Dumber <>f m 
in town "ii that day, he ^ai.i thej were ael 
it in\ other time and that the] generally brought 
:.tlu\ <»f buainetu I * i ■ • - < • < I 1 1 •_• . he aaya: 

i uli.it ;i f.i>-. inating thing mining 

\ independent. In 
.1 merchant, agent or pi 

But ;i miner hai iii> 
on ii in the »•<»< k and ii " beholden 
make mone) out "f I • i ?~ 
it ooe instance In fortj | he a 

in telling, for 
■ 

1 deration of the churches, he 

1 ; ■ or, .i M p Tut 
i i to mon o . 1 1 \ ." he 

• ount rj la at a 
■\ Ion ebb I be] • four or Are mem* 

one church. 
The] are 
■ 
22, 1876, in .i letter to bia father 
Mr. Coloi ado'n late 

■JikIi ever] one who lias 
on for ani length of time 



VOUTfl WI» Wl \«. M \ Mlni.h ■,-, 

Will 

ill uIiiki 

in« !• 

I 

I 

ho* Hi>*«il up DJ nasoii of the i 

■ 
bat i 

i 

then the i 

1 pen on 
I 
and • odooed hii Urn pi 

■ »f the ■! 

< !leveland pa] 

he entei 

Hon with the ' 



EDWARD OLIVEB rVOLOOTT 

■ l of a mixture «>f editorial 
j ..Mil reporting, but it li evident thai be g 
lively little attention t<i «*i t ln-r branch. A men 

of bh J productions, the following from the Miner 

il\ loth <»f tin- M-.tr iii.ini«-iii*<l must sufl 

!■■ ■•: the affli< \. i! \ . orators bare dei 

. d Lta ten 
tboog orded and pigment! known, but seldom 

there been s period when the complaint! of bard times bare 
ueral and onireraal as th< For onr ^wn part 

. .• i. ut h re are 

in si: i of dead b - ' ba( \\<- bare come 

uur aormal condition, ;mi»1 accept it as the In 
rather annoj li i rnallj dnnned 

bi \- bnt one t'mali \ used t" everj 

i the patient eel loeei iii> skin without i mnrmnr 
f n-r our : ence ire can smile bland I j at those 

pa, ami i. equanimity during the most nnpleaaant 

Inten - Alton are not ^ philosophical, and 

their temper!; bnt then thej irill learn better, 
.«. », iii time, and ire hopefully l ,,(, k f»>rwar<l to a |M>accful 
• 

the war. more or less oom plaint of the so 

of nioncv, ami tin- ilullmss of Imsim-sH, has prt>vuiled. Tbil ll 

due • ■ doubt, to the extraragant babiti con 

. the fltmb U'nr- ..f p fat contract!, and 

■*■ ipeculation, when monej was thought tit onrj t" be 

and ihoddj displays, so that when 

■ I. ami opportu draw 

! ere a Ithdrai n, people > ould not 

ought tmple f>T all BeoeB#iti<-h. i>. now io.,i., .i upon 

-s«-«i among the lux 

Of OOUTM 

• I bai k upon legitimati and 

the times 

ontei 

o I.. , ome really 

iple. In our own miilst tin- mOOS] w li 

ed than heretofore. Aj much 

: ■ nth. as at an i . but it in 



l'OI l ll AND i'Ol SG M INIIOOD 

prod 
wortJ 

• 
than 

the in. mi f r. .in our 

■ •tlllllllll 1 1 \ 

w e ■ re Prom neceei 

nomlcal in «"ir ii.ii.u-, and n 

« In. Ii 1 ill, in tl ml, i • 

In .in -i i : i • Ie pi 

of the th< 
• ew mini i 

'he ton ii of Id H r hlch, \\l> I 

ton ii. wai an Important min i 

a. I while thcr 
monj ..i bj two mj 

of whom bai 

• kn..u led] 
M a nun.- I r -.-s the donoi 

without thi'ii mak -.-Ivrs known, but the 

! fought under 1 1 
P 

In thii caae the mini* • * 1 1 1 • ♦ 1 1 1 1 \ 

• ■" ore abandant en 
enough to torn the brain of I 

: in the 

log depth, until one eat 
value of 119,280 to the ton. 

Unfortum . mlaa 

withheld 

■ 
mcoB pl< te i 
• 

thai he had been Informed regan 
i roperty of wl • : 



i:i»\\ \i:i» I >LIVEB w <>l < < »'IT 

itnre coarse will be we do ool know; w< 

r, that the President insist that 
cur • i ongress, Honorable J !'■ Chaffee, who is 

■ i miner, shall come to Colorado at once ind 

look after the jT.'i»ri\."' 

. the young lawyer-editor In- 
little -iitiiiKMHalitN as foll< 

n ujn.il th< fa hundred 

I. .ml. vho non wi-.n- the Isurela be m aoblj iron, may 

•iifiit from hit high office, nek In Colorado, 

• ;iii<l a ho 
• iir moimti pour into rs, from their a bund- 

• irtune irhich will h«- i ti< recompense '«• him, ami a 

■ tido 

editorial work scarcely had been began before it 

was f-'iiii-i to I"- somewhat onerous, for ;i^ earlj .1- Maj 

7 [r. Wolcol to his parent! M Thia edi 

ibling me considerablj . I knoa I 

could 'l" well at ii f 1 i-.-.tii\ had the time, bat 1 am boss 

all daj, an<i when night comes the printers are calling for 

and 1 hare to write It oat without time to think or 

!• riting for the Uiner was a hit amateurish 

m a .1- .1 Ktifflcient ezplanat ion. 

•1 tiii last rent ore as an editorial 

■ erward identified more or less Inti- 

i\ w ith • '.-in. -lit < .f tii. 1 me. Be 

for t bat paper, and bia intereal \\ a* 

. \ >>t .1 polii ical - I 

• I !<>y ■ \.-.ir <t tWO, II 1 W "I 
have been without eapecial incident, until 
-7i, w hen he made to I he family home 

nd We in.i\ imagine him going along from day 

me i" him. petting 

re among the four 

amp, « mp e Id .1 a bile he seems to 

let ter to 1 be homefolks, 

-i»'.k.- frequently of the prosperous 



J < 'I III \\l» I \ Ml. H ih 

...k «.f bii 

I f.» turn bil 

' ' I In in u r 

■ 

i 
• ii >>{ |«.r' 

\ 
..il^'lit t.. : 
I bOfM '•- '!•• til - .ilnl T h.n ; 

tin- on I j i in the 

I would rather lire in Bo* ton, I think 
tin- world i visa Father would 
. bar 

n f r. >iii i !i.|, he i • 

up iu\ b - •.••• i 

III ;i - I 

dropping II Into .1 well ; 11 -I-..-- dM Men ?•• make • 
: •■! know - I don'l d 

iinouii! tli.U 166911 j..i\ in\ . .. . . 

infant mm." 



DISTRICT AXTORlf] V 

1\ 1876, the Centennial year rod the year In which Oolo 
rado was admitted i B e Union, Mr. Wolcott 

.-■l to tin- tw«> offlcea of State's Attorney for the 

rid in which he lived, the I rat District of the State, 

and Town Attorney foi i town, which offices he con 

tinned to ii<»i»l until elected to the State Senate In i s 7^. 

:i»-<l from both <>f them. The judicial diatrid 

i <»f Clear Croak, Gilpin, Jefferson, Bonlder, 

mit, and (Jrainl numi irs. ;iu<l iiuhnliMl surd inwns as 

Central City, Blackhawk, 
en, Boulder, Longmont, Breckenridge, and Bof Sulphur 

He had obtained his formal admission t<> the bar In i v 7.".. 
and when theee ti came to him bad been In a< 

i, i. nt w it h<»ut going much Into t he 
• of til-- time attribute! hii Domination and 

■ \ influencet of hii brother Henrj and the 

n lnisiiii I'i ifi".s<»r Hill. Doubtless 

. t.i him, for, Dota it batand 
eountj, they had become li 
and wen rilj pos 

•.<•->•••. I ..: in t lint 

■:<■> . there 
doubt thai Ed Wolcott's own personality w:is 

■ in in" election. Always m man of ex« 
i im, he made friei . and it maj 

ma] follow Ing went Into t he 
• ion in Mis support 
Mr v, I in nomination by Mr. Nathan S. 



roi i ii wi. vol i i' 

ii. 

afterward of D 

Hup: ', in addition 

bean \n illlam a. « 'lark 

w 
w 

W II. til ; I I I .1 ; 

Bpruani e; Judge McCoy; and 

rxi • p' Mr II ui'l I 
The nomination oi 

bj a band 

jM.lit ii>. .in. I in I li< .1 nominal i<m mi i l{ 

■ II a proi 
opponent, and !>•• a 

tiding ma 

in ti • B - an •nt Iretj a( I 

ballot for the year on 

w • ritorj u.i 

i • 
D i 1 1 

in the ii. 
in the D i "limm. i 

I J. Tilden would ' 
s,h of the 
i ca n 8 
the • 

landed on 

other elei tion ah 

. it. L877, and Mr H 



I i>\\ ARD OLIVEB w< >LCOTT 

town "ii at tin* mom time that Jacob Filliua, who 

lau in hi", office, a*aa Mayor. The « l » 1 1 i« •- 

of the Town Attorneyahip were not in anj respect oneroua; 

onflicl with 1 D bI i i't At tornej 

w ting f«>r the town be compiled tin- ordinancea "f tin* 

. i polity. 

\n l i;\ "i <.i;<»\\ ill 

Important ai waa tin- District Attorneyahip on it^ own 

real significance in tin- < ; iv,. ,,f Mr Wblcott la 

found in tin- bearing it bad upon lii-> Bubeequent career. 

.1 much t«» make tin- man. Theretofore Mr. Wolcott 

had been known ;i- ■■ .i g I fellow." Be lia<l manj friends 

and wan popular; but, lik<- moat young men, was ool pot 
m-^.-.i ,,f a \,v\ •_' r. -;i t senae ,,f reeponaibility <»r <>f bii 
own Importance aa a factor In tin- world. The dutiea of iii* 
cacting, and be aoon came t" know that be 
had n"t entered upon any boy's play. Be roae to the 

Indeed, it is evidenl thai from the beginning "f iiis 
term be \\a* impressed \\ i i ! i tin- sorioiism-ss of the work In- 
had undertaken, and there is abundant record of the efficiency 
of Mis administration. Writing thirty .\< -;ll ' s afterward, ■ 
prominent resident <>f (Jeorgetown said: 

ll<- u.i- the in' ■- 1 energetic and the ujohI Burcessful District 

-! 1 1 ii in :i it life irai bald rather Lightly hi 

that tin i result, there awe manj 

I le undi rtooh to bring tome of tin- mnrd 

to j". . rror 

the t"<> jreara sfter iii* 

Four t" the penitentiary for 

inent a number <<f minor criminals, 

king >>f Mr W D trict it torney, 

ii' ii ird lays that it \*;is brilliant from the it 

he never let up ' a rites 
Mr Hard In < I kne* more about bis a orl 

thar part of ,! • it a gang 

i i than all ><• tin- pent 
, and a joy to all hi 



V'Ol ill \M» VOI Sfl M Wll 

'' 
htin • | * 1 1 1 the vorl 

I ii \ lev of i ' 

.\ 00€ "f Mi W 

friend i ■ u 

be would ii"' prom 

ittitnde toward .ill claaaei i 
four men in 
.id. I | be • hief argument made bj bii opp ■■ 
would nol 

■ \ He Rnrpi 

• \ one of the pi 
i Countj he did in ■ 

long • find tin 

in .( Ii 

will I taall M"t I 

the i ■ 

f..r tli.it | 

ken '!"•• i 
u.iv . on torn n »ill 

ruber 13, 1876, in « hich 
There ii another term <>f tl ■ 



l.i.w .\Kl> OLIVBB WOLOOTT 

it will »«• ■ rerj b . : me. i ihall have three murder 

cases to 

eircoi eculiar brutality. 1 *iiaii undoubtedly be 

• • murderer, end then 1 think 1 *iiaii have done 

. allowed to resign mj office In favor of 

In > pi t«* 

miliarity i Itfa crime end crim 
an Lndiffi them and deedeni the feasibilities. 

Be <li«l not resign at thai time nor at all on account of 
• ..f the work, and bj April 8, I - 

tation i Itfa more com* 

•• i .mi." he saya, * riting I on that date, 

•• kept rerj busj moat «»f the time and rather Like it l 

alreadj been the meant (under Providence) of lending 

pal poor fellowa t" the penitentiary f<>r various b 

from ten yean down, and have eome more lerioue Crimea 

topi »ming three months." Be added: M Thii 

• ading i fear, bui don't exactly 

k 1 1 < > w what elae i«» write about; so 1 'alk shop." 

few daya later, when re of another capital 

everted to hie previous itate of 

mind. A murder was committed ii i own in April, 

1877, and after e ret at having to try the 

of a leaf i lurder i 

ething akin t" pleasure if I believe 

be guilty. « ►them lee/ 1 he adds, " I never 

from Blackhawk to hii 

■ 

one Uttle time, but i have been 

:.i\ f..r more than three 

■ |ht, and Boulder to- 

\ iiH.niii ce Ii 

.■ but the and training are a 

■.:,:■. \\ . bad 

find ImiiIi tli<- prisnnorH have 

meni f«> r Life There ii another 

nnir iii-r to tn tmd '■tin another here, In March. 



roi hi am. roi ho u \mi 

more cheerful \ 
cbarai ler 1 1 

Beaded ii 

i <>f thnn than I .... - 

■ ontj r.» r the lust ten \. 
derfttl change in n 

•i't ipotl DM. I la- k - ■i.nililri.. 

1 never do 

moDth'i I 
■lit- murderer t.» tr% aad perfci 

('hri.-'n.i-. 1-77. u m.-s, •<! a l_vmhin L - < n .\ 

man | 

inur-l.T. 

taken oul \\r w 

the Incident || brief, I 

ii. n 

the other 

the ! B POT iminh-r I 

will'' hut imf. 

Jurj I then, i and 

Church here applauded the 
nn.h in n termoo oo the 

■ 

murder : 

Ue in 188 

• r his ten 
he wai employ . . .. w 

i 
i 

thing, bul I i ould no4 declti • 

■.I.'" 



l LO r.hw \i:i» I »l.l\ 1.1: w I >LOOTT 

• ii w hj Mr. NVolcott <lislikr«i the rriiuin.il 

• iiini in the fan i hiii it interfered with his 

While tlu- work <'f prosecution was more 

ar it <liil not ao much moneg as ■ rimilar 

ml <»f «i\ii businesa would have brought it served to 

him for the other line <>f work, ami then robbed 

him of the time for ittending to it. 

lalarj paid the District Attorney was onlj 
r, but the feea brought the remuneration up to |2500 
--ful m«l:< i menU t he feea In those 
ch nial for a misdemeanor |15; for 
.in ordinary felonj $25; for capital |50 " M\ pre 

In- wrote t<» hia parents, "have made a regular 
busin< each term indicting liquor saloona and 

repul sea for the purpose of levying a aort of Mark 

mail I - I will Dot <h>. ami it will nil dOWU m\ Income 

fr<»m the office considerably ." 

DBVBLOPING TH1 01 kTOI 

i osl ■ portant influence of this office upon Mr. 

own fortunea waa <m his standing as a jurj la 

ami a public Previous t" taking the position, be 

mill that h»- could m»t bring himself t<» address a 

court < kmfident of ins real ability in that direction, his 

la f-Mimi a meana "f forcing him to .» trial of ins powera 

wonderful results, aa is told elsewhere, 

instituting the First Judicial Dia 

claimed th<- honor of being the scene of 

ii t Humph at the bar. < me an 

|pin ( "..11111 \ . M r w olcot t'a 

w bile anot her has iai<l t he 

ntj But i«'th were In error, 

properly claim 

all • lion Clinton \i> -..i. m.w of Denver, but 

' Wolcott'a prede< i 
• • . \ furnish.- i be follow ing i tint : 

Mr V and be 

ItW, ill Inw 

. Mr. Wolcott town and I In 



JTOCTH INI) YOt'Xd MANHOOD 111 

woold be 

■ 

the n 

o.-s oil t! • 

■ 
I 

much farce behind 

h.i<! 

BUUUMT uhi-h WOXlV 

Hi- I. 

luiil in mitiil 
• m tl 

ba1 i 



lia i h\\ \i:i' OLIVES vVOLCOTT 

- the jury, which be <li'l : it n « i while 1 

the tint. uned In i. 

- mora than Ate or tan minntaa. Be 

rapid talker I I beard, and to that brief 

i\ end h ante manner to 

the Jurj . in fact, it a . to i Jnrj ai I 

: <1. 

\\ hen be -at down, be turned to me and walapared, u Hoi 
all tin- points 
mpletelj ." 
' How lonj ilk? "' he t h«-n aaked. 

W.ll. 1 Mid, "I think \.-ii talked ahout half an bOOJ ■; 

yon have your man." At which be tnnch 

•• Do you know, ciint." be m d, " l conld not aee a tingle 
thooa jurymen all the time i a aa 

h wai the beginning oi Mr. v wonderful 

r, and, if that beginning waa an honor to 

the oountj In which it oc cur red, I Inaiat that Boulder County is 

• «.f his Aral oratorical triumph. It rl< 

banished forerer all doubt that he might hare had 

orator, and from that time on be never 

particle when called npon to addreaa a jurj or make 

• any political function. 

Harper m Oral I, "f Denver, who succeeded Ifr. 

\' tornej . aa Mr. Reed had preceded 

- deputy a bile h<- held t he office, 

kindlj supplied a brief reminiscence of bia chiefs 

■ iti\ «ia\ i of his < i face the 

-I saji that the feeling was m pro- 

• me m r Wo oualj i ontem- 

pracl Ice of the lai . 1 1 

During Ifr IV< acumbencj of the office of District 

■!< bill WOI 'y in 

- in • t iniinal cases 

it i ark. 1 1, i bj rerj ' 

1 l« i ci « ivcd a -alary 

from the B irt of 

an. I paid bj the counties. His 

i ffaot 

■ ■ ! tippearing lo court 



JTOUTfl Wl» VOUNfl MANHOOD 

and i 

Mi ii •■: • Mr H 

mi fa jm: 

i w ■ > 1 1 1 . l - 
ind held I 

1 he that • 

ich ••niiii. 

I'llliuo, f 

■ \ prosecution <»f two ; 

I 
M ;■ i: 8 Morr son ; : 

i I ikI ( !harl( - \\ 

M 

■ 

. 
I 

•• I 

them in n 
to then i 

them, in ;h thrm. 



in i:i»\\ \i;i> <»i.i\ 1:1: w « 'i mi] - r 

that 1 ranted them 

bole truth tiing bui the truth, 

tuple w.i\ Gentlemen of 1 1 » «- jury, 

11 1 •« .11 the stand, ami have heard their 
ami 1 le«TQ It to 
truthfully "i- li"'. 1 know that what I taught 1 

bj them, will make them better oil 

irhen tin-. uniu-<v.ss;ir\ t«i 

! 'hat the jurj promptly brought in a rerdict 

of murder in ti • 

king <»f tin- same caae, Mi- Morrison alao teatiflea 
Wolcott'a able mauagemeul <»f it. and he add* an 

int.i' iel He sayi that, next to Mr. Wolcott, Mr. 

White iraa the moat powerful advocate at tin- bar of Clear 
County, and. proceeding with oil narrative, aaya: 

!. and an OVerU MlPJUg tor- 

• (I spellbound the audience and tin- jury, in 
in tin- can •■ M aj . the d< broken don d 

■ .1 "f a degree «>f homicide greater thai 

examination would justify. In all ;!:•!•>• the pros 

for the ereateet retulti obtainable 
- tin- gift of perauaeion hai Induced jui rerity 

er than the crime demanded, in this Uurtai part 

• aantence had beet otl acceded to the 

on for clemency and Ma\ wax pardoned. 

Mr Fillioj and Mr Morrison paj high tribute to 
Mr Wolcott'a newlj developed oratorical ability. We quote 
M r m M r, Pilliua taj 1 1 

• •II remember the : • that he had in 

. jurj Be araa practically irresistible 

•d of condu( Ling ■ proaecution was eminently fair. 

1 [e v 'ain \ acuta and hii Instant 

wan lit! le ahoii of genius." 



M 



mi BTATI SENAT1 
WOLCOTTfi 

■ 

!l til." s. 

ibly of I 

OSCS f.'T * 

1 

candidate f..i 

• •<l the l'-_'isl.it i\. 

an- 1 » 

- 

I le tod ' ii rami 1 1 \ 
cnltai fi 

v, itli I >r \\ ol( -'ft in tl I 

Dtre of : 

1 

ti.'ii 

W • brother 

of the bmthi 
theii appro lation of th< 



116 i .i»u \i;i> < »i.i\ 1:1: R « n.« « >TT 

Itica, and, as a ill I"- shown in 

end, 'ii'i nol j.i ;i- ■ polit leal leader. Be 

ii attention t«> politics, and while In- showed 

an aptitude in the stiuh <»f liases ..f political 

.• involved to inch an extent In the 

side of political life aa i" bewilder and In the end 

• hiins.-i! i inently, a bile il in his first 
for iii" Senate In L879, be fa election after 

one term, and never succeeded In regaining bii Inflnence In 
the management "f Colorado's political ail 

Ti • d of Mr Hill as Senator In i s 7:i was due 

almost entirely to 1 ol th< Wolcott brothers 

I i leneral William a. llamiil. of < Jlear 
< frees « '"linn . 

; Haiinii was "in* "f tii«- strongesl men who ever 

figured in Colorado politics. An Englishman by birth, he 

if of bis lif<- iii tli<- in 8 es and for sei 

re had i"*'*!! in charge "f the Terrible Mine at 

..ii. which was owned bj an English syndicate. He 

• !,,. possessor "f some wealth, ll<- had the peculiar 
faculty ( >f controlling men without saying much '«» them, So 

has participated in < Solorado polit let 
il in deciphering a situation and in so direct- 
to Inflnence results He read men as eaailj as 
II.- knew from \n\ slight indications what 
der "i- that would «i". and he was so familiar 

with Conditions in tin- Stair that In- \\;i- able Often 1" '"in 

■ ■ others would have failed He was in 

rou« manhood when he went i" Georgetown, 

i were close friends m p llamiil 

aainted a ith P il ill, and naturally would 

• • ■ w olcot t influence : but 

little doubt that he was Induced by the younger 

\\ oli ■ ith his w I... i.- heart into the contest in 

i m • n n rapplied a Ith a political 

I i ty . 

opening for III Hill's ' andidai \ w:is made bj Sen 

* hom he ■ i An has been narrated, 

• ii one of I he first t s o Senators from 

to ;m<l that "f his colleague. Senator 



rOUTB IN D YOUNG M INIIOOD 117 

N 

March 4, 1C 
drea lota, and the ihoi 

Teller * 

..f the people ami nt \ ■ l 
can loobl 11 1I< 

.111.1 banking 
..f the •etUement «»f tl ry, but 

III |H.lit irs, .ili-l w 

his f i annoum • 

■ f W li.ijli. 

innouncei 
t.» the fro i 

mm^e, but in the 
Hill • • for him 

announcement 

m r I • rminatioD was baaed npoi 

the beginning >>f the kidnej trouble whi< 

; | 
; 

innoum ement <>t » 

■ v w pre beginning 

og u|"'T I .|" poll! i< i end • 

while t" r< •; 
en tin 

30, 1871. 

B 
through 

I"nif< 

;un rt in th. 

hulnl thai 

nron 



lis i;i»w ai;i» < >u\ BB w i >i.» < >tt 

.• | Dftiblj inv 

premtM uith the anifonn k:: \ of my 

l part j in timet pol l lun ■ 

for Which 
t i«-f u l beyond 1 1 1 « - power 

the public, *»ut I h..|H- 1 may 
•hat w\ aim bai always been fot the 

pill.! g <»f in \ ft at I lia\ • 

'v. It lb to 

fr<»m political life, tnd I would ha\. BOOB the 

admission <>f the State int«> the (Jaioa, except thai the political 

tiOD at that (inn- s«-.-iiinl I.. < l«n i a In 1 the OtmOtl «\.-il • 

all n Eloping the Repnblican party maj continiie 

.1 ooantrj, I em, rery truly 
roar obedient Mirant, 

i !'. »'ii MPBa 

publication "f Mr. Chaffee's letter had ;i startling 

apon the Republican! of the State. The preponder 

tepublican party had no1 been established !uffl 

'\ t.. cause it! adherents >•• f'-<-i ioi f their L r r<>uml. 

All appreciated that Mr. Chaffee*! retirement meant division 

«.f coonael and ;i scramble for his place, and there were 

■ apprehension! that it would be difficult t.» And a worthy 

i<» him. Many Dame! were mentioned, but none 

• the requirement! ontil Professor Mill - - -an 

anounced. Be was accepted immediately by 

•ronghlj available man. ami Mr. < lhaffee himself 

ter of warm endorsement The lal 

una illin him up. ami they 

■ elect ion ;i^ to 

• uat ion. 

Mr i; < . i • . tillable little book, Political Cam- 

supplied an account "f t be incept ion 

ii :- i which throwi light on that gentle 

■ the intimate relationship 

• n Mr Wnlrnli ami <i«-mral llamill. Mr. hill 

the two, Mr. rVolcott 

brother regarding the 
■ i ! odidj 

Mr. hill] wai that ihortly 



roi in \M» x"01 SO M tXHOOU 
tanor Hill 

1 »n ri r . 

- 



- bruthrr i I 
f ri «iii ■ li to bii p*j 

the • 



Mr D 

the partj Bol 

if I ■ 

«1 fr«i|u. 

«»r torn 

i would Mttm it . - nd ■» 



120 l :i'\\ .\i:h < n.!\ EB w I >JX> »TT 

-• . hr picks Up. II I IliaY 

maki ixt 

Willi [Oft to all. 

i . . . .!• ifleotioi 

r 

with Mi- ii - candidacy decided upon, it was to be 

: thai tin- three men who had been moal Influential 

in bringing about lected to take 

• tin- campaign. No man wai itrongei with the 

-• in Gilpin County than wai Benrj Wolcott, and Ed 

thoroughly popnlariaed bimaelf in Clear < 'r<-«u. What 

more natural then than that tbeae two brothen ihonld be 

the Legislature in Mr. Bill'i behalf? This 

wai tin- plan «»f General llatuill. who already bad taken 

upon bimaelf the management <>f the Mill content, and in 

rdance with thii plan tin- two brothen were nomi 

: for the S 'i ae from Qilpin and the other 

l lamiii became < Ihairman of i be 
i o mm it tee and commander-in-chief "f the Hill 
fur< i-.-. 

smppign wai a spirited one in Gilpin Oonnty I [enry 

Wolcott bad a- bii antagonist i>«-nnis Sullivan, a Democrat 

opularitj and a man of much strength "f character. 

In < Cn \i-n- two raixlulatt's opposed i" IM 

Elenrj was triumphantly elected over Sir. Bulli- 
more rotei than both of bii oppo 

~<->\ his county under the direction "f 

. and Mr Morrison, who was on tin- ground 

ami entirely familiar with tin- circumst am <-s, telll 01 that 

si doI an element in political work which wai not 

:i farOf of Mi- Wolcott The natural 

II followed ami th<- eight of the election was . m. • of 
w ild enthuiiaam." 

w .• And in tin* newspaper* "f tin- daj onlj slight i,.f 

. | be campaign. Mountain \ < 101 <»f 

at lc paper of t be State, failing, 

• • tin- future prominence of the Be 

publi< i 'oimt \ . ment ioned his 

e during the contest, and this mention was 



\ I »i Ill \Mi Vol SG MANHOOD 

• mi the -■{••ill >>f Beptemh 
i i > 

- 

>k on! for 

The " • >l'l Wu hone," hoa • ■■■ 

ral ii • done mm 

•■. insiir.- tin- sin . .-s.s ,,f t 1 

A Pitkli 
;ui.| Bonn . \ \\ ' nor 

B while he had -I in landinf 

he ' 

interest >>f hii Mend, Ifr Mill, with th< 
of .<• 
Repobllcani to the aaeemblj 

BO DM 

With Mr I \\y oat ,.f the 

•i had been made largelj In Mill's • 

linnHni! ,-h. still, 

"f men in I 
rominexH i 
when the time approached for hold 

Including M i 

term In the fi I 

Pernor ; B 
cnlt judge, who 
Bon. W. 8. J 

■ 
•• 1 1 1 1 . " . ■ 

Denvei I Rio Qrande R 
l Rontt, the 



i:i'\\ \i;i> < »i.i\ BR w i UXX)TT 

All ■ found ai l ho 

I ' ! 

d behalf, 

1 all of th( 

:■• lift\ t ! : e< incua 

• the night «•• 1 879, end Mr. 

Hill t >>w the liftli bell ag thirt j 

ted the 
Mi Bill <mi 
i be two < Colorado H 
■ I of imp] 
time t hi* Republican party <>f I 
two lead* 

■in -iit 
. marked. 

u een Teller and Hill the 

two w - -»f the latter, and 

. ere knon d ai i be principal rap- 

; ward 

Mr Mill 
■ i"iu-<i the Hill standard before his own 
i :i \ eari after M r. Hill'i 

m1\ made termi with 

and, when hii came on, be 

Mi- Teller'i follower! < me 

the « l«-f--;i t in 1882 of 

ernor and the 

1 ...\ ernor of the 

We The 

f the Wn mAned to 

j became 

•i i 1 ,.- upper house of the 

• 1 1 »mbined ability 

dominated the entire assembly. 



> Ml Til \SH i'Ol tfflOOD 

ll.li: 
• lurti 
all -•• 

compl 

life I 
:i end, the two broi 
towi 

forward both m 

And but 

r from him "i» thii iubj< nkJj 

•ll II J Ml I) I.V 1 

i whole heart Into the work M< 

: in into more or 

f.ir hi nun 

neoftion of thr H 

|V ..!!).! 

Bppl 

1 

Thr > 



r.'i i i>\\ \i;i» < »i.i\ EH WOLO I 1 t 

publi main 1 j through Benr.v'n 

d bj jealousies auMm^ politicians ou 

We had ;i clear majority among the Republicans, and 

in number, followed da l waa the oolj 

and that, more than anything ■ -■ me 

ind hasty. 1 unconsciously, 

• much ardor mi>> i or oppoaition to 

nal feeling 
e "ii the pari <>f tb< I am quick 

ftte. All thoee irithin "iir own ranks in 

i n|M.!i in\ mal light for them. If thej want 

bill passed, I must champion it: if ■ bill wai to be beaten on 
their account, I mti it. The result lms been, and I 

i the odium and all the hostility 
no do; tti"-'- irho « 1 i * t nothing but rote In 

- !ai<l it m\ door. Ami often 

.i>l find my»elf at "out nallj irith some member 

when !).• h behalf l bad 

undertaken the light had l « »n l: since mad.- up nil differ 

• of terms with all the irorld Bj reaaon >! 

ion of m\ orerbearing diapoaitioo 

ring Utter thlngi which the recipient doea 

■ •. ■ l think. m< tniee t ban 

itaunch friends. 

Km nor'i enei \-tant and assiduous a- 

[Ii .:••-.■( !■•. saying that In* wan si-k of [xili t it-H and 

did • iln. But we shall 

■ bat no compli I is made of t he 

I • ature, \ >v\ fevi of Mr. 

te have been preserved 

>il\ a newapaper n ronld take down l few 

-. and in ' ■ ■ opj of ■ more ' brilling 

■ would prim them. In this waj we gel a fugitive 

Benator from « Jlear 
. of the bill •' nre in l s Tn for I be 

on of the B Ht opposed t be bill and in 

measure of bin own f<»r the regulation 
dure, ■ bi< B Wo. 1 The news- 

Mr vYolcott from which we 



^ 1 .1 ill \\|i VOl S'CJ MANHOOD 

■ 

lhOW( !\.mtau«-- 

Bll 1 No I r 

flO j' 
u.-r. 

follows 

:|v f..]l..u. 

t.nt I do OOllfOM t! 

pht bundn 

of j as tic 

. 

■ 

i 

U 
Montana and • 



mil Mr \\ oh ott **as « Chairman «'f the 
"ii Education, and be held poeitiom of 

a nuiii! M ^ . .'liiiniltiM-s. 

Hi \\ j pertaining to 

fata area awarded 

man for bis colleagues, 

he presented i Senator M. A. H 

Arapj i intj Mr bad generally antagoniied 

Mr. VYoloott in the 8 •• bad 1 1 1 ; u i \ other Bena 

tut In* was a man of such slunk iuit-uritv and Of BUCfa un- 

I be wob generally loved and respected. 

preaeof was iiiteixleo! to express this feeling, which. a» 

the moat eloquent as well aa the atauncheat ol 

, Mi W olcotl "f • 'I.-, i ed i" put 

Into a did, aaj Ing: 

Mr. Chairmuu, in the laal boura <>f the session, and juat 
• roll-call in this body, i rlae for the Aral time 

:\- ..f tin- session, with the full BB8U] 

i am about to mj will receive it"- aanetioo and 

. other iimiiiImt of this asseiuhh . We 

our allotted time; and are bare bad our 

quarn and our fighta our triumpha and 

tb it all there bare come heart burningi and 

troub bui now. ;i» we ;i j.j.i o.i, h the end of the 

\.- the laal roll call that this 
i of the river, i truat these 

n do burdena left la the 
■ 

Ilea mostly in retroKjiection. 

; m -•-«•. I ;iw ;i\ . w hen time h;i- w ..rn 

■■•III!:.' I.llt the 

and remembering thi and 

that the in<ii- 
gain, under any drcumtfa 

ng the things that 

! that ha I - • i Of an unpleasant nat 

ad remembering that if 
■lied year aft I a ould each time 

- tli.! t W e kli.iW not 

who l tO drop in the liat, nor who would follow 

no member of this I [oust . oi thia 



tfOUTH iND YOU NO M iNHOOU 

raJ Ann I 

been • 

in ih. B 
nr Id 

I mtd th 11 
the Mmira timt ii;i\«- pundt tin 

•i f->r flu* ltd 

anv other pertoo. 1 

■ - 
been mm thing 

inan. including 
! l>v \..ur 

■ 

that 

r f<>r \ ..ii 



in in the 8 
which i 

B ' He 

1 that in 



i:i»\\ ai;i> <>i.i\ 1:1: WOLCOTT 

h the Almighty had Intended should be only thing! 
imtv, ami ••\|»ivss»m1 the thought thai the further spread 

•• w e Im Ite tourists to 
rand and beautiful scenery and not i<> 
buy vermifuge," he said. The bill became a law. 

During ! m in the 9 Senate li«' Intro- 

duced a bill granting equal suffrage to women. The bill 
.li.l not find ;i place on the statute books, but it waa the 
Forerunner of the Ian which iraa enacted fifteen yean Li 

to ^ii«»w Hit- esteem in which the Wolcotta were 
li«-l«! ■ e expressiona of ;i fen a ho 

Mir\i\»- who were members <>f the Legislature, or wen 

,i\ be quoted to a.i\ antage < me 
of the most prominent <»f the contempori S sen 

i ; i iseph I ' l [elm, a ii" represented I he Tenth 
. ;ui«i who afterward held the high office 
<»f Chief Justice of the State Ifr. Helm si 

I remember thai Ifr Wolcotl showed, during th< 

i with him. an unusual b and *UH In grasping the 

b bill op measure, and \\:i s \<r\ effective in 1 1 1 « - preeen 
tatioi imenti were chara< terised bj the 

ame more pro 

• I him in later life. When he espoused 

did it enthusiastically and Impulsively. 

• g the members and inspired manj 

hi.li continued through lif<-. He 

or those a hom 

■ ut on the other hand he would 

a friend. 

• the lower 1 1 « »u ^i- in the Second 

i ion. nv iiiiam I » Todd, a ho a aa 

e County, with resi* 

1 1 iuch interested in the establish' 

I I Natural History Society, 

Institution, and 

! in the House a bill to that end I fe succeeded 

bill through tin- House, and when it reached 

ed ii]-. ii Ed ^ olcot I to take charge of 



^ I »i Tii \ M> VOl SO UANH(H)l) 

•rk 

ip .1 V 

ill III- - 

• tT< >n hardly, 
of In- • 

I 
1 v times, .iini i bile i 

ild, the little i. ilk oi 

i though the « 

\| i ■ v e* ii- the f"ll<»u mil' 

cotl in ilature 

I taring tii<- mo l< lii< h the f"ur rt 

i 

Mr V 

on it the i immend i 

thai delltx 

r.. the reaaooiog facol 

R ith Imii . 

. that li 

i 

ml. i I- .irnik' n» "i 

unit in I 
the elder, wh« on in 1 1 f«- k !•• 

the othei 
and 



r.i»\\ ARD i »i i\ 1:1: \\« HX> >TT 

Ich 1.-.1 to rxtrava- 

•111 of the 



< » ] 1 •■!-. w Ik» was editor of the /'■ 

■ if them, 11 alao he vu 
1 . i' .1 
principal opponen( in the Senate, fortunately has left an 

e two men J ,; bod and the H 

n w -i f<ir the ' - four yean after the 

en from the 1 Beginning a ith 

hia rtM-< I lection ha rei Ired bj 1 

• ■ii a train in tin- pro- 

1 session in which the u 

i-ii ini: si'ssittn f\,-r held in - 

up t.i thai time, and he then added : 

1 nder of the minority and Ed Wolcotl 
oti araa president of the 

I 

•1 witii a fierce determination t«> 

H( - :ni : 1 1 1 T n LT« .1 1 i -- T Q01 ' 

hater, for he bad not i»:i rn«-«i the 

! he « ai 1 u.nf \ j .-.■. he a ai still 

•:«•. He bad fin • oompliah 

M»><ii them with efl 1 lorn hope 

- the moat <iai .• 

• r !i;i«l in tin- Si I' f uti 

ranee, he 

•: .in ml vantage, Bui II wai 

iik<- • • • The w <>i' <>u majority 

perating wan tin- '• 
«.f tl 1 finer inn lleotual 

eaaj atrength; on the other an almoai 
1 .1 w rkable 

• 1 fertility wm- as u hi* opponent'! \- 

rrellooa in tin-ir keenneea and 
betaole 

returned to tii<- aaaauH 



tfOUTB 1KD YOUNQ MANHOOD 

■ 

- 

he h i 

I 

i Com 

telli us tl Mr J 'shrewd and ] 

I | | V. 

I. II' ' 
Judgi d 

phi were 

v% bom h<- « ill I • 

11 - ■ 
lolled 

.• 
i 
f.»r i 8< 
diatriet 



132 i:i»\n \i;h OLIVEB WOLCOTT 

•■• haw done himself justice In some of 

in- l< work He did not have the eon ind induatrj 

He might have opjtow**] some measures 

ipported bad be been n . ■ n faithful 

g i.\ the usual - O. Wol 

vs.. M the inoal i 

■ ..man aj rit«-r in ! be I ' M I ibrtUUTJ 1.".. 

is^i, we are indebted for the following pen-picture of the 
.it broth< 

The two moat prominent persons in the Senate are the praal 

hi; w oleott, and his brother, Hon. B. I ' 

The latter is ih<- younger and appears '" be the more 

|m. pular with tin- ma-si-*, inn. «• ought, iterhapa, to be deaoribed 

tleman from the Sixth," as be is officially designated, 

11 "f medium height, flueh 

1 1 1 : 1 1 1 1 \ and graceful bearing. ll<- has 

blond hair and rerj handsome brown eyes indeed h<- li i 

od points • • \ • • ii the in<>-t superficial discover. He 

|.|i\ nil all \ able man. aii. I I lain t><ni 

■iia. ii«.ii t.i the majority of bii fellow* 
I well adjusted pht sical i on ii 

to in- mental operations. He has do 

n ami < |i linr 

ami inn... in. '..i sophistries as i >,• 

i.\ adverse pin -\< al rondit Ions. 
■ 
mi ndequat( ludden emci 

. oinmaml ..f his mental 

• 

• .1 u .11 hnlniK ' 'I man. I \>- 

• ann i im id. 
t tempi i" browbeat 
..in t.. him sari asm 
his methods is 

His 

I imed a --i -i or ' a ... and bis * » j » i » • ► 

bandons them, M r. ^ ol 

■ l ..f language and red a verj 



\ « h in \M> VOI SG MANHOOD 

effect ire ipenl 
high position 

iiln.ir „-.• ami ! 

■ 

w In. a II 

\ ih< 

- .ill that 

«| ii.. . I • •• that III 

i 

I Inn all hmo aball apeak wH! 

11 i; w • ..f the > 

tirelj different man II.- - not the mrl • ' 
tin- nob would be >-u\\ 
much f"r the - 
■ 
prwMMi . of ■• the leoUemeii fr-.m I 
the "l-l it 

I ill of the t»«c'» 
irerc pot into ti- 
i 

■ 
ild pan ham tiu» • 

hi an founded , 

eeenre in- 
tod bold bimaelf np to the Immutal 
effect, Tii- 

I 
log <>f the «»l<l d 

Of tl.. II.- ■ ntllfl 

with mm. h digs ire He . 

with 

ioki 11. • .m M<> not I 
olonslr. I 

whi. ' - him t.. 

earth who are in eerneal 



i.i'W \i:i' < >i.i\ 1:1; \\« >LO >TT 
duty <>r th< who can be patient of at 

I Of ili^h 

|&OW 

Mr. w • •'• otl I ''-ar blue- 

graph at 01 

experimental em o Impertinent Bern 

: \ w iili them lighti that 
far Into 

aua\ with I lie vu 

in them a promise of good 

ning that they lia\ I 

• rating bat not 
r. but not crednloni — lelf-contained, bnt not 

but doI -in ali«'L'' I ber the 

1 hai i"-«-ii regnant and whose iif<- hai 
• !i»t than mere emotion. 

•• ] ..ml •• ili.« ;rlin. iiia_\ 

"f tlii- man"- lift-, hut who 

: at him with intell - hai thought b 

for I of manhood. Whoever ha 

■ his character haa been stimulated to 
admire all those attribntea <>f the sonl 
i mere ap] • • ■ ■ d 

..i i„- Bupposed, however, that only complimen- 

ding the Wolcotts, Bd 

■ •11 as friends, ami crit icism w as 

by do means Infrequent Be did oof shrink from taking any 

.n\ and pro] because of possible censore and 

■ >1 forth man} exprcKKionfl regarding himself which 

- frienda if not t" him. < >fi<-n i<»<., 

■ . k in 

. I I lamiii and 

Bettor '. L86 i. made 

adil Ion, ami. defending M r. w olcott 

• //. raid, said : 

ii In the Republican party in ihi^ State who 

unjustly ricnlt with than the Eton. Edward 0. 

: '1 clique • ni .ii- failed 

• ■ ■ • : • • • • . ■ had ;i chance. Thei have 



>> i >i tii \ \|. rOl SG MANHOOD 

■ 

: 

I 

I 



In t 



ie 



B 



P i.K 



ler Field 






. AM) P0U1 

MB w "i ' ' 1 1 1 - oo to ill- 

important toi 

"I'l" : 

i 

• If in the • 
• upon an 

.mi* hi* boaioeai calendar \v i- full. 

8 
Id the 

■ 
n to t tin 

■ 

v, hi* lifi 

si 1» i 1 
Railr 



li" i:i»w \i;i> OLIVEB WOLCOTT 

<»f t hi- ii - for >i.iih.il:.-. a*ere frequent 

- to the course to be pursued In the 
Klation, and manj prere Inclined to- 
.! course Clearlj the roads stood in Deed 
of th< I, 1 1 • » t alone "f ■ lawyer, but of ;i man familiar 

- ondit \<>\\< a li<« bad th( • and ind< 

tiampion their cam uentlj 1 1 1 • - railroad and 

lied upon i" • .ui-i 

political chicanerj , 
All -»f them demanded ability, loyalty, fearlessness, in their 
u-»rk These qualities found exceptional combim 
• Wolcott. • drau n '-■ him 

*ti unit. -in .-tTori <'ii bii part, and after ;i time more 
business a*as offered than could t-< He w 

-.f .in attorney able i<» choose hit cl 
It i i 1879, thai be transferred bii ofl 

1 1 oued bo long at be lived The im- 

• >n of tin- change prai bii appointment ai 
i I ills* orl ii. i ■- ■' eh er foi 
»ad. 

em of i be I >eni er ft Rio 
• ompani then <-f onlj two or three bun« 

■■• track extending from Denver 
orado Bpringi and Pneblo to 1 
and Alamo a fes short feeders in other dire tiona 

i built even to that extent a/ith difficulty, 

- ite bad been so dull prei loui to the 
• -n.it.- ii, • • i eadi iii<- that 

lable Always aenaitiye to gen- 
t-ral il renditions, the railroads In Colorado 

■ •in i be financial depi ession, and ' be 

i- Colonel Elli 

w..rtii. it • ' M man, and bad been 

-w ii bank, in s bicfa capacity Mr. 

w cott <!-•- 
• in «.f the change, and after 
beei ai ified r*n 
Writing father, November 80, 



i s mi: men \i»i:i: i 1 1 : i i • in 



I : 



n be held until b - 

in the I- . in- 1 it iinpr-.. 

with 

1 1 

■ 

Nil \ 

, , ft 

H 

found "ti 

H 

i 
i 

K. 11 

l 

i 
I 

Wfll 



BDWABD OLTVEB rVOLOOTT 

1 1. i^:>. Mr. w olcott « r the following high 

• M. led lawyer I ever knew and 

H . \ ■ ■ 1 1 

the head <»f the legal department of the company 

aid w i t ! i the title "f Genera] 

miliar with general local condltiona than 

Mr lias*., Mr. Wnlroit ln-l«l a \>\-\ responsible position 

the beginning. The headquarters of the company were 

and Mr. Baas maintained his 

■ ,-. p bile ott represented the company at 

the more Important commercial centre of Denver. ks Mr. 

iih loiitimn-d i.» fail .Mr. Wolcott'a responsibilities 

correspondingly increased, until, after .Mi retirement 

in 1886, .Mr. Wolcotl was •!' ;i' the 

head «»f the law department <»f tin* system, which had grown 

int<» large proportion* He was also elected ;i director "f 

the company. 

In 1*>M i!m- road again passnl into the hands of I P€ 

ii this instance, was the Colorado Springs 
banker, William 8. Jackson. Notwithstanding apprehen- 

- that hi- connection with the mad mi^'ht rcasc, Mr. 

continued to ad under Ifr. Jackson as legal rep- 

■ the railroad company. Sis doubts regarding 

on, both before and after the beginning of the 

et f.-rth In his letters bo his parents " 
of the railroad. < m the 2d of January, 
rather, aaj lug : 

• ..!• ft Kin (irandf has passed through some 

• knew how he might be 
ratified to find myself retained as before 

spoil the sain. lation as was paid the firm when 

f U-. B i .ill be able ! " keep t he a. olf 

from ■ ;ir at lei 

And ' he told his mother 

of the return i the control of a receiver. 

\. with which i ' 

BOH . hSS gOI 

vt tttribaUble to the pre s en t ms 

red; but i' wsi oot 



in THE BROADER I III D 

until tn.i; 

OHM. 

II continue I 
\\ ill turn up." 

I I 

; ; 

• W.ls ;ij,; 

I 

enter] |uently .!• 

: !• \ Afterward be 
\» u'lr- Depot k B 

•: v, and 

th.- hmiri 

i MCODd nian - .r\ I 

n his offlce irai rapidly enlarged until it ii 

In 1-- 

burn. AJthOt 

tern 

bora r. ■• 
York, where be 

B 

\ 

skill • ' \ 



l u EDWARD < >LIVEB w I >L0OTT 

solved, if possible, »•• prevail upon Mr. Vails to enter 
ifflce; and a little later, In i vs i. we find Mr. Vaile one 
of the mainstay! «>f the Wolcott establishment Tims began 
an association which in i vvv . ripened into a partnership, and, 
with ever growing mntnai attachment and esteem, endured 
until Mr. Wolcott passed awaj In 1905, 

in 1888 Mr. Wolcott's campaign for the Dnited Btatea 
Senate absorbed much of hia time; In i ss i* he was elected 
and t""k up I ence in Washington, leaving the im- 

mediate supervision and control of the business in Mr. Vaile's 
bands. A diligent student; patient, indefatigable; post 
ing a keen and analytical mind; strong and self-reliant, do 
man could have been better equipped to assume and direct 
tin conduct «»f a large and active practice than was Mr. 
\\ - partner. This partnership was unchanged until 

1902, when Mr. Charles W. Waterman, who had entered the 
some ten years previously and who had in the mean- 
Lime developed Into a rerj able lawyer, was admitted im<» 
partnership, under Ha- firm name of Wolcott, Vaile ft Water 
man; and so the firm remained until after Senator Wolcott's 
death. 

The dozen years from L880 to i v, . ,- j covered a period of 
extraordinary activity and development In railroad-building, 
mining, smelting, irrigation, and other enterprises in Colo- 
rado, The discoveries of Leadville, \ --i ►< n . and Ban Juan 
were followed bj iii<- rich yields of silver from Creeds begin- 
id the richer -j-'id production of Cripple Creek 

The »1 ished and built up, as a «• ba\ e seen, 

i.\ Hr. Wolcott, and so ablj maintained in character and 

-ill wiiii the aid ol Ifi \ le and Mr. Waterman, grew 

in volume and in importance with yeai Perhaps nothing 

the iii'jii standard and efficiency of 

, it,. in the fad that in several instances retainers 

\ir Wolcott in the earlj daw of bis professional 

withdrawn. Manj clients ol those days 

of w oh "". \ .id.- ft \\ aterman at lir. n\ ol« 

blj the l tenvi fl Bio Gi ande Railroad 

;..m\ .ind the Chicago, liurlington ft Quincj Railroad 

* lompi 



I \ THE BROADKR HELD L4fi 

In id.- COOTM l( ':••:-. Mr M ill. urn fur 

nut <»f tii.- circnn under which bi 

I into partnerehip with Mi v. ippluwan 

i inn-. 

'I T..U 

inu 111. in, ihowiog thai under the itimulua .>f ; 
• ni.u employment be wai coming rapidlj 
U \l llburn'i letter ii dated it Ni JToi Be] 

'. .up! reedi 

The i i r -* t 1 1 mt- i in.! Edward rVolcotl wai Lb the nunnatif 
of i vs J when wt irere goaeti In tii«- mum boo* 
Spin . - mi ban .1 peraonalitj made m- 
an inipreavion opoo me. Tall, well prop* 

I. in.- • • h and quiet « 

tion .in. i h we then ipeol t<> 

r .in. I Ik- mured through them lik«- .1 meti 

ng up Utw.in us ; ( t ,.ii.«-. .ui. I U-furv \vt- pari.-. I \\<- \s.-r-- 

■o drawn '" --.I'll other that >' bed oc cur red to i><>'ii "f na In 

an. I half . \ ; il.l \\..rl* 

pet hex in the profession '<> which we both beloi 
took definite »lia|*- m id. 
montba, and In Beptemher, 1- I '■• Denrer and 

him : .| f..r m-ai 

«.f tir Igbtfnl \.-ars ..f m\ iif.- arhen I returned to the 

1 - quite •: th relatii 1 ox 

• in. ill.- \ 
B I \' Railroad linen in < 1 bad be 

■ in mining, rommm ial ami 

tner, bnf 1 m ai.lv aaaii 
am bended bj Lex Iw hi I MihiH-n. 1 
in. I commodiooa *<-t ..f office* fun 

- «sen 

wa« 

•ui. I n.. 1 1 

■' 

lowei 1 found in ( 

of pilea "f law Ih.-.'ks tnd 

mammal in 



ip; i:i.\\ aki» <»i.i\ i:i: WOl COTT 

- law 
| 
than 

I ' 
«i. j. . 

I 

ration. 
- and a limited bodj 

;•>■ in 

i ere the i oodi 
under whJ ded. 

! qualities as a la* 

-••i and impiiN - .ility. 

during tii- * our 

orker, 
■ 

■. that ererj boor '""k 
i different one, I «i«» aof memo bj 
pable "f long ttretchei "f work on the 

• iinee almost t" an abnormal 

•!n- iiupul- 

u. t. moring rapidlj over a rabjecl and 

." 
a ith lumiuoiiH and 

.• a domain in which be 

patient, painstaking and <iiii- 

ither than 

barm 

,ilit\ thai and held 

■-. bumor, diatinotion and a 

in.) if 
!.. tin- law In* 

bii time. 
:...t help adding 
Ol my 

1 .1 linn 

• i tain 
I i tunnel. We • • 

difficult t" rapport them 

■ 



IN THE IIROADEK FIELD 

■ 

■ 

■ 



v.-r. I. ut | 
in f - ' B • kIit in 

P 

II. 

and 

for < II 

Hon 



i \8 i:i»\\ a 1; 1 ► oi.i\ i:i: w < »i.<« »'i t 

• in- < Colorado political lottery . With the State 
!•*. far from the centre of population i" aupplj ential 

caud 8 led as the 

i Colorado man'i ambition, and many bent 
attain it. Never a public man «>f anj 
prominence who did not aooner or later develop Ben 
.ii ambit loni i i i a, I ben, thai in i ime 

Mr Wolcott came to be ■ BenatoriaJ aspirant, ami thai 
people manifested do aetoniahmeni when the] found 
one 
• nix were there mans candidate! for the Senate In 
days, inn there were more than the Dana] Dumber of 
- to in- filled. linl<-i-«i bj the time Colorado bad been 
in the Union B e bad bad ■ half-dosen rep 

ate one Pot eai h year. Theae were 
1 Dd Teller, the m-si two choeen; Hill. Chaffee*! 

1 tiilcott, appointed bj Governor Pitkin t" lill the 
cauaed bj Mr. Teller*! becoming a member of P 
dent Arthur".* cabinet; Tabor, who was chosen bj the I> 
letup eed Chilcott In filling the unexpired term, and 

lected t" take np the work after the expiration of 
ii Mi-. \\.»i. on waa active In politics when 
four of the all were choeen. Little wonder that in* ambition 
■ Ddled! 
The differed i - natora Teller and ll ill and 

e folio* era a ere ao sharp during all 
. olor to all polit leal 'im-*' 
time that Mr Hill entered the Senate it became 
mid be difficult to maintain » be harmony 
< ..ii delegation 

i eller, < 'haffee, and Bel ford These 
u i in < Ml pin < *< him t \ before going 
: the affain "f t he State In 
onld ha\ i- Im.-ii expected to <l". 
i . but a it h bia elec- 

• I -.IK 111 IMIIS j,f. s, |,[, ,| 1 ||,.| .-llll lUg 

hiui^i-if and M r. Teller, with Reppe 
allj in. lining toward the Teller si«l«'. 

■ led ion of I he 
hul it reallv owed ita ei istence 



IN THE BROADER I III h 

tbc men thei I 

the • 

H 

.' 
• I in the 

I I -it in I8fr 

read Mr w 
• i \\ iih the Hill fori en \\ hen 

D in jM.hr.. | ||. | ,,| 

cewful .1- hi .in-lit 

be ii 

\ D imli\ i.hml i 

ranked rerj I But he kn. 

wm from tin- beginning 

\' 

[nation r<« bn 

u [mil thei ilk "f doi 

ll' !. doubt l' - 

man for the promotion of whose political Intel 
done to mu< b 

Hill fonnd obi 
under »| 
. omp 
iupp 
i ith another 

mil). : , r him to 

in f - 

urn would be 
•'■ 
the man 

■ 
... 

I 
d the Bill • rati] [ 



150 i:i»\\ aki> OLIVEB WOLCOTT 

•thing «»f his change of heart Indeed, a( the time, there 
die information <»f Mr. 11 ill'- defection, and it seems 
to have been supposed thai he was strongly advo- 
..f his lieutenant Mr. rVolcot I 

•in my to the i . and this must be 

n horitat i i 

msr n m i'»N m. oont] 

onventioni in i sv, ». the first being 
held in Ma\ I eleel ion <d deli N ionaJ 

blican Convention, which was t<> meet in Chicagi 
the <«'iuiiiL: June, and th<- second in August, f<>r the Domina- 
tion 9 in the latter convention Governor 
d, who had served mo • the previous 
two •■ - renominated bj acclamation, and the principal 
I on g r e aaional nomination In which Mr. 
.i candidate. 
Maj convention was s very animated one. I' will 
Bcalled that i vvi) was the year in which there wt 

art t'» have Genera] Grant nominated for s third 

dential term. 

Mr. vVolcotl was intensely opposed to the Grant nomina- 

ther with General Bamill bitterly antagonised 

■i favor of the <'i\il War hero. Both of them 

convention an delegate* from Clear Greek County, 

Midi\ for Blaine AJt hough 

ine enthuc sat, M r. n\ oleott favored 

available candidate with whom to defeat 

Bamill, on the other hand, was a strong personal 

folloi ina 

• ed that the State had been so thor- 

:-w,.,i and that s<» much attention had been 

i - rant delegate**, t hat t<> Btem t he ' ide 

■ ..f the queation. in one of his letters, lir. 

3 and thirty thousand 

< .ram's interest 

ritten in advance of the convention, but 

. i, plainly t < • r .iit would carrj it. 

landing I d, the sent iment of the 



I \ THE BRO \i»i:i: FIELD 

• U.ls fill. ' t 

.•>fllt ill. 8 

earnest, howc be «»j>jh.! 

one time 

itiOD • "l 

but little practical 
the f( his folloa en " lai ed 

;i itaoni 

■ 
in the 1 M kmvent ion 'I 

i nrernor John I.. Routt, a peraonaJ Mend ol i 

hail hope 

liifl f.i\ "\ 

tion nor 

resolution! influenced t! nrention in fa\«>r of 

.•1<I. who wrai 
■ 
for : 

1 1\ home with I 
• .1 in defeat ii | I 
it w ithonl ha\ ing promoted ' ; i 
..in.! Colorad 

and 'ii'- Repi 

• 

at ?iin»> « 'olorario had onlj 
tional H 
for I H 

I 

mentioned in the 

for him. Still he 



r.h\\ \i;i» mi.i\ EB WOLOOTT 
friends," and would have u*«-n placed io Domination if 

bad h«*«i> an\ proliahilin t»f hi* success. It \\a^ soon 

•hat in .-as.- hi> name BUOUld 06 brought 

rention, the other candidate! would combine 
Indeed, I bia combination irai effl 
i. -uit of the Informal mention <>f hi*- name, for when 
it became probable that he would be aprung ai ;i candidate 
the friends "f Thompaon and Decker deserted their n s 
ti\.- !■ Belford 'l'lius it happened thai while Woh 

cod and hii Bupportera were opposed to Belford more than 
t.. either of the other candidate! thej realty forced hie nomi- 
nation. Mr. Wolcott hai left ■ word on this subject, and 
it appean thai thej were no( acting blindly, but were crowd- 
ing Belford '<• the front in the hope that they would thus 
the more certainty eliminate him from State politi< 

lae of Ifr Wolcott'a name In connection with the 

.Tensions] nomination was due entirety t«. the circum« 

.• that the Mill faction, if not Mill himself, were anx- 

apon the ticket the name of ■ man who would 

represent them, ami thej found In Ifr. Wolcott the most 

available material for thi* service, [ndeed, the Legislature 

cety had adjourned in the winter of 1879 when there 

.tl references to Mr. Wolcott as a factor In 

the Congressional race, and aa earl] aa May, i vs n. we And 

bin taking note of the possibility of bis candidacy. Etc 

then was determined, however, t<> remain aloof from the 

••■.in. i -hail.*' he aaya in a letter to his father of Ifaj 

pp entirety ont <>f the field under any and all cir> 

rnniManifs I U'.uhi not tak<- the nomination for Congress 

if it were offered t" me, which it will not be. if a man 

ami time enough In courting the 

popular will, the people want him; if he does n't, thej don't." 

tie timet however, th<- convention met, he had been 

influ< tude, and if the nomination ha l 

tiered t" him he would In a letter 

of September 80th, be aaj i 

did n't .■<>■ be convention ;it alL I would 

thing but the i onal Domination, and would 

f"r that if ;i choice oould be ar 



I \ THE KKOADEB FIELD 

caml . • . if tti% 

■prang In taa oooventJoo, Um 
gth to the leading 

it If'!. 

■wart r ! tin-in al 

the b ■ all. .iii-i M-t at the last 

the strength wt "-Hi. i to Belford, k; 
t w>< M .us wiii complete in- i"'in l( 

Without • •; m • Wf'olt otl then declared 

u.iv againel him. •• «»r would here t> 
ti'-i<i !'• Ida, M Henrj waa, aa naviaJ, mj mail 

He ex< lount ,.f Influence than alo 

i"-i\ in < 8 . and ia the heat backer, ai areU ai 
beat brother, In iln- world.* 1 

in thii - anrention, Hon. « !harlea n Toll, "ii<- 
a .1 r . : ' . • herine W I ; 

and I '-I W ominated for Attorney I M r 

Toll oung lai Orande ( 

bad been .i member <»f the lower Honae of the Rl I 
lature In L878 and L879 
sarin- jH^it Ion Hiar i ! < » w 
II- ai -• iflv supporter of the Hill int< 
fluent speaker. He soon formed an intlnu 
R "ft brothera, and hia nomination for i ocral 

waa eJr Influei ■' 

ef word n 
to bit 

nominated bj 
ihoa lug in •■ 

on." 

• 1 major 



151 BDWARD OLIVEB WOLOOTT 

ether they \ isited aJ j county. 

Mr. Wolcott in later yean and to whom 

i uoi onlj ever n ake a speech, l>ut ca- 

acquitting himself irith more credit than o1 

elation, I B >utl had been 

rman of t B I and he d r had 

red upon thii e than be sought on( 

Mr. v ted from him ■ promise to make ■ 

nk from it ai I never 
anything and fear I shall make a complete failure "f 
■.-.I by tin* fact ti'. i' everybody 
II But I suppose I 
r us the young polit i< 
tl er. II'- ii"t only «li<l make the attempt, 
but a whirlwind success from it 1 - ' 

-l\ had been begun before he had 

>Ughl after of all I rS OH t he list. 

■ man] tours made bj the young 01 

• introduce him to a constituency with whom 

ed to become 1 ary familial-. < m t he Bt h 

we find him informing h^ parents thai he 

pre] • og the itinerary for his speech-making tour, 

55th <»f thai mont h. 

-»nly fifteen or tu'-ni\ 

1 her thai in them h<- would " stand 
I " •• 1 have," he adds, " done t his 

• 

arlier than 
I, and yel to , .1 the I 1 

►men hat latm date for on 

.1 \ ing t hat h.- had 

11. v. here he had i- 

- l\«-r 

-i'\ in his report to bii 

■ r Plume he had an audiem e of 

bundred and 'hat in- ipoke in the 

letter h< n to 1 srare his 

salts and that of lir. 

- • : ; anion. I !■• saj 



in THE BROADEB FIELD 

.■ 

ilth. 

.1 brief i 

1 .-ii K) far parti- u SMfal in 

.,n.l : • di won'l lliten to it I 

>o| " B 

I ex pre oi 
iltv. not! 

outlined 

pw of pol i I 

. f-.r m .1 
Itim i 

-•• «... much before 
The ' 

■nd all i»f mj 
omit 

■ 

tin- mom 

\\ i i j eren boh ah 



i:.i; i:i.w \i:i» <»i.i\ i;i; WOLOOTT 

i the fact thai the end was n Dear. " I am,*' lie 
glad it Is over. 91 H<- then addi : 
•• I hare bad some thirtj Invitations for thia week and have 
.ui i shall doI speak again except perhaps 
for half an 1 1 « • 1 1 r with Belford the night before election. 
i onlj pride 1 have bad In the whole matter was thai 
I might gratifj yon and Henry, and might justifj the good 
things iii\ friends bare said of nn 

Dted In the Tritium will be fonnd in 
another pari of this work. If it- author had the difficult) 

epreeents In preparing his speeches this specimen i 

j i • * t betray it He discussed the broad questions of the daj 

in a way thai showed the speaker's grasp of national affaire, 

though he modestly professed to lack familiarity with 

them. He also evinced a generous Intereel In the welfare of 

the candidates on the State ticket, going to the extent of 

who had not been so l i t ►« - 1- - 1 1 with him. Ii was 

just the kind of speech i<» arouse the enthusiasm <»f i Im* 

youi aers, ami ii did arouse 1 1 1 i *- feeling In them 

- of no other campaigner did. Wherever Mr. 

spoke, the cause was strengthened, and the close 

of the contest brought him manj expression! of gratitude as 

well a> manj compliments on the method and matter of 

ddn-»<-s. i 'mm thai time forward the young Clear 

reputat ion * as established in < Jolorado. 

.mi won ii utH'eKKarj t<> beat i in- bush i" get an 

for him. 

|\HK"\ ED I in \\' 

i • i .- ■• ■ ■ . ■ ) n <li<l not come on for two years. The 

devoted bj Sir. fVolcott t" building ap bis Lav 

.ind t'> laying the plans for the Domination of bis 

l.r<>> I J work for Re< eiver Ella 

• upied mm • during t he first .\<' ; "' '"' ' wo 

tutside l»ii- i ii« — drifted in upon bim. 

liu •'■ ei ■• nei bap not ol great importance, 

Mr. Wolcoti was ii'»i above taking small 

■ eiver was a more lu- 

ploymenl than be yet had bad, but it did doI 



I \ i in i:i;< > \i»i:i: I u I D 

... . 1 1 1 . \ .ill <if hi* I i in.-. and thi 

f.-|r thai In- louhl w.-ll laki- — 1 1- 

.• 

daring I - las 

■ 
that he ronld afford to neglect the r hu* di m n tl i 
of the partj 

i ame to him .is one ol the reaulta 

«>r the 1880 campaign added material!) to bin Ian 
and the ne* year ail not pn»^ri'.vH*M| far 

titni him indicating In bli letters, and manifeating In hia 
manner of I ■ f • - , a degree of opulence which hit 
hi- known. Dp to thia time he had been able to i 
little toward redeeming i promiae be bad voluntarily i 
daring fa it in the edu 

brothen and niatei I >r aevei MttlemenC 

in Georgetown he found it difficult at timea to make 
endi meet S< rer, hon ei er, after 

did ' liml it m-.rvsan in jjive him linam i.il a- 

ance Now our lawyer and politician had I the 

turn in the road, and 1 bile v ' ill ' l • 
when he did not hare all the fflonej be wanted, there nerer 
time when he did not bare all that be 
really needed ami more than th< man would 

known bos i'» §pend profitably His i, li- 
mit il it h. . >s.ii\ f,,r him t<» turn i * a\ 
!ii\ a> Man li of 1881 Mi fl cott a aa k 
money home and Hiipplying younger memben of th< 
with the in. ans to Buppori them at school. 

In- furnish tin -. hut In- wr^'iil tin 1 KjxMulii 

monej freelj Rem em ber i i 

ami wh.n ! 
from him the acknowledgment of all rci 

d to act ep wonting fr-mi • 

his [ ■ ,| h,- all: 

that there should I 
In one 

tion that Id expend T ? • 

her on luxuries rather than on i 

in forwai | :ht liko it if JOU WOUld 



i.i'W a 1: 1 » «»i.i\ it; w i iU < 'ii 

otmt i<» your general expenses and 
- .11 in frivolitj or dissipation «>f Bonn 

• onwilling to do thai, in I lu or something else 

•a. . ui. 1 n't otherwise hu\ " igain, on October 6th 

follows: 

i draft oi | « i i » i <>f 

which amita 

I tl-.n'l want l«> >«•<• anv a.-. .ninl>; lhr\ UTS a 

and were itnmbling bio 

. alwsji to 1 o let me know 

when yon l take ;i great deal more pleat 

it to yon thai libry sen In tecelring it, 

and I'll . [t if _\«'u'ii write me franklj for anything 

yon m 

ii, in th«- same rein ;m<l to the same Bister, on 
January 18, i - 

I l. ■ <\ your letter. Sow san i make yon ander- 

l l send yon li a pleaanre n> dm — that I enjoj 

ii '/ I ■ .nit to aend It I want yon I mt if yon 

on what I tend yon. i want yon t.. test I the 

I to i he old adi 

i b 3 "ur pleaanrei ai thej flj ; 
i time will 

.Ml i ^11 let me anon when yon want money, 

f-.r l remittances, and am apt t" forget 

:• dow before in<- i aether yo 
raotice 
• would continue good. 

ing t" l. on the 5th <>f hlarch, <»f 1881, he 

t hat he dndi it t erj 
• ■nt ion. I le adds, hon • 
pensea ln< i er than my Income 

• b which b ould have appreciated. 

mion con 

■ 



i S Till. BBO 1DEB 111.11' 

\\ ! ■ 

IMi'l inth!, Mi 
that 

It, hut t! • 

fad much 

• f the mi 

id anything inn 1 October !*■ 

-1 not l 
bought if might Indue 
Writing 
dition, 

I Me bat little 

! 
reeenn-h. 

i 

out .i rei 
w 
the emploj I elp. in 

I 

nn.l an v thine 



i:i>\\ \ki» <»i.i\ i.i: wiii.iiitt 

w..rk It nasi require | 

kelp. The railroad appointment named bo 
Instant (for l think i bat" 

• iukiiuukHlgiu^ two letters from jou 

- • \. : ind ■■' Labia. 

ill your present business, and 
i at able . I needful pftrtMtal attention 

to Um 

ill And ■ better time to oarrj int" effect 1 1 1 • - Ions* 
:i->1 importunity of jour nd ezborl 

to pi omj. i Irani yon t.. nave ■ tooeb Just ;i touoh 

)"> ■ 

ih.- in. -p.-. i-.-.i niii.c font- .aim- uei an«i better 
I more !•• bered from the follow* 

• Ifaj 1 1. 1882, i" Dr. and lira, Woh 

nee offices are delightful, or will be \\ii<-i! 
them fulh arranged. I have been adding rerj extensively 
t<» in v law Library ami hare non the report! "f twenty Bl 
and an admirable collection «>f English reports. I iriah I 
kn.u more "f the Ian thai is in them." 

Thai t In- young man WMM not "iil\ w.-ll offlced t'Ul well 

I from the folloi Ing ei 

from the same i«-i ti 

:.'n.. \\ ii\ cannot father return irbeo Henrj doei 

• ! a month unit ni here? We. bare I d for bin at 

• .in Insure bin I good table. I cannot promise 
bin i njoj nifiit. But, seriously, II 

vrooUl much if be irould come, and I knon 

. sd it irould <i" bin good, i ban 
ire so Rituated that hia 
in. 

in (TBI w 01 ii\i..\ 

Nii \\oi...!i had begun bj tins time to prepare for the 

and probablj s ai I be 

.m m tii. ght againal Qenrj Wolcott 

4 the diatieaalng political quarrel between the 

Telli rhe antagonism bet ireen t be I pro 

- early In I be iee ion 



in i ill. BKU \i»i K l I ELD 

Aj-nl of 
bad 

• 1 1 1 » t if 
them i 

;ifr- 

• !\ In- Ailed b 

■ •uM 
\..ir U 

II. Will.!: 

on, ■ m 

in I.-s.h 
I 
f.T 

DMB Wd fnn\ 

th Teller In • 
Bill i in the B 

4 tin- mi 

r.-.-lv le*' 

rand hi mi 

Mr 
lowed within lew thnn .i u.-.k \>\ iUv .ij.j. 

B 

of hi B I ! 

an.l 
all the Ulti Hill I 

bini J friend and I 



UH II'W ABD OLIVEB w I >LCOTT 

him ii better equipped than any of the other aspirants to 

• •• the duties <»f tin- gubernatorial office. 

.Mr. i>iii thai deacribee la hif work on Political Cam- 
the relatiooi of the parties, his testimony 
- gnificanl from the fact of hie being 
tensely partisan against Mr. Wolcott end personally attached 
t<» one of ili»- other candidati 

There irai do objeotioo to llr. Wolcott, penonallj. n<- wai 
then ed a sterling Republican who deserved well of 

hit party, and under other circnj there Ii little <i<>ui»t 

that be would bare receiwd the nomination. I 
than iiis brother, be had created fewer antagonisms, and among 
the i ' " 1 1 1 1 »i »« - 1 1 there were many 

who sincerely regretted thai the c on teal had aaanmed laon i 

• that they could no tor Wolcott The contest wai 
purely the outgrowth of the bitterness n< agendered 
through persona] ambitions— a condition almost Inseparable from 

and which had been enhanced by the i 

f the younger Wolcott. Neither Sir. Chaffee nor Mr. Teller 

. «i to Wolcott "ii persona] grounds. The} obji 

■ thai time for the m that he waa 

the !• - nator Hill, and the lenatoria] question 

DTolred in the gubernatorial contest, llr. Chaffee replied 

to thi i eral Bamill f<>r th<- withdrawal of his 

ott, that if Wolcott would wait until after 

ri;ii queation wai disposed of he would cheerfully 

»rt him for Governor, but be absolutely refused his coo 

nlnation <>f Wolcott, with 1 1 » « - certainrj that in 

• Ion the ei jth <>f the State adminia 

on would )"• i. are the re-election <>f Bill to the 

and Teller i<» Hill'i re elect ion 

vu i the whole con and led '<. th<* 

blnation between those gentlemen <>f which 

larj incident The 

: Teller on one tide, and 

Hill th 'h<- senati n aa the 

- Ipimrting ^ -.ill rami 11 and Ed 



at forth in t he follow lug 
■ r»f Ed v • his fath( 



i\ THE HRO \i»i:i: nu D 

" 

ii utiwill 

tod i 

in .t bt Dominated bee a oei 
thai ther Bill 

• bul H 
man throughout tl i - 

I ire might poll through, after all. I ihoold 

him. hot with th<> 

■ . 

■ in. 

hut ira cannot hope f<>r orach from hli 

repnd w i \s..n't t..u. h Pitkio. Hamlll 

I! 



•i began itv sittings in 

I 
polll 

R ill foi 

imelter « 

w ■ 

• 

hand man. 
and he i Banked i 



i:i»w \i:i> i »i.i\i:i; w < »i.<< itt 

••• lom "f i ; - • bene 

irbo were josl coming Into their 
own in iM.iiti.s end in tin- ; 

ad '«' ackno* ledgi 
Ifr v i lender, end it maj .1- well be enid ben 

■ ii" man In ]M»iiti«» ever bed a more loyal, 

admiring throng of young men aa fol« 

lowers than had Ed Wolcott 11. • wai their choice al all 

bampion on everj on- win 

• linn.- of n ever there 

.1 man under middle age who waa strivii abliah 

himself in the world, ther waa almost tnre to timl ■ 

man. And thej were "f the kin<l that stayed with 

and supported and made aacriflcea for and on behalf <>f a 

were Dombera ««f them sitting in the Denver 

-. i. in there were si ill more a bo ba 1 

••. t in- convent ion as mere sj 

The principal controveray in the convention waa In con' 

• n with the Arapah lelegation. At that time Denver 

•he connty seat and it had by far the 
tion in • - otrol <>f this conntj bad been 

In the primaries, ami some <»f the < "i 
taken t" tin- < Sonnty convention 

principal content* in the Conntg convention had 
from the fih wards >>f I •••n 

_- charged in both. Prom the former the 

•••■i and from the latter the anl l« 

Ua bodj I be < tonntj convent i<>n a aa 

Mr Wolcott :m<l a delegation to I 
• 11. 
■ ailed npon to conaider t In* 
• ..r 1 he regoli 1 • >i Wolcott 
•! claimants The 
if th< ^ iiniiniiis. and 1 be 
1 1 dent ials a hicfa \\ aa 
■ 

ommendntion ;<- t<» 
.• ..f tin- dele 
i.h the committei 
d that they <ii<i not fairly repreaent the 




1 




II K W 



I N nil. BUO \i»i.i: PIELD 

■ 1 recomi 

I 

port wee - 

i 

Mr \\ . \\ ..:. .: 

M r. 

• i the eei 

In ins ipeech, Mr i 

laring that it bad 

.11 w it li B 

.1.1 under anfarorable • 
\\ . i ..:.!. • project ouj to the p 

f.-«-l the Lntenee Interest la tl it hii beu 

ire hi 

nihl 

new end lincerity. < to the printed pege 11 Beemi 

ri^'lr In primary eiectioi 

Oonrieh at the do Republican!* [t wee, 

frit ! that tli«-\ ha. I Imi-ii w it nww.s "f ... 

<»t In : ur w ith b 

w en he eroei . Mr w 

the - x - ' I wil 

where I en an-i u hm- I In-i 
t to hold 

: 

Inti; ... 
nnv 
Of f 

: :t\ of their pr 



i:i»\\ ai:i» < >i.ivi:i; w i >LC< »tt 

These prill re bald, and m> man T ti inks tlii'in leal '!••• 

■ l... in the Plfth Ward, from vrhich the fi 

admitted t<> t ii«- oountj .•.•nwmuin. more 
• in three boon than during the irhole di 

: ft | 

ti.-.i i.\ the convention. The 
« ere present* d t" t I * ■ - oon* 
g that in. fraud «.i» committed; that thi 

■ .■ . nity of the tab as, but 

that ii" balloti -i opon them. T 

v -t that !,. teller man and that 

that i ii upon the table. The " dele 

• ler, did n't refer t" thii 
Dtioo adi lected th. 

from tin- Fifth Ward. Thej the 

i - \\ .mi. Bad \\<- admitted 

then would have bad from eleven t<> fonrteeo 

- ia< In- "" has spoken <>f the fa«t that 

repn ted in 'hi.- delegation. In < Hlpin 

■ - 1 | it week th< some 

the town <'f Nevada, bj an overwhelming 

cnventiou for Henry 

and when thai convention met they win- ohoked "if 

• 

in the eounrj "f Summit there irae also a time-li 

different precincts. In thai 

to appoinl a committee 

pnrpoae and to adopl the reporl <>f that committee. 

found l!.. itTOted ami that t * • 

ipportnnitj to expn they 

:i ii|H,ii thl i'l tln-\ lifted up t!, 

; l.-tclv the iv|...il ,,f tin- 

■ four onl t>l tin- precincts 

• for the 
. • • • tin 

in the irapahoe 
in majority. Mr. Teller 
: a majority, ami \it be 

■ .1 tu the State 

,,-..,. a Con oonvi 

■I'M. or, in fnirm 




I n u 



H 



1 S THE BROADEN PIE! D 
admit 1 

tlw i. 

i iranl to inform tl 

on t! . 

pnbllcani "f this 8 

I 

inn. h for «in- f «*• • 1 i i . 

i thai in 

' men at 

■ 



long and loud app 
otion, do pro 

cliritiea, immediately pi 

from Ai 
done b 91 

I 
m, ■ > 1 1 : 
!i : 

Although 

- 



EDWARD OLn BB WOLOOTT 

It will !■•• «.«•»• n |i\ a letter herein quoted that Mr. 

•a w.i-. ..f the opinion that, if the rota on the I 
could here come at once, Ifr. Benrj Wolcott would 
--fui. n«- was n"t alone In that be- 
lief. . unfortunately was engaged 
for an entertainment thai evening, and the convention ad- 
jonrned until the oext morning. Thii allowed time for 
manv -if the anti-Wolcott d to combii rneai 

unpbell of Leadville, and to make bargains In hit 

half. One of theae bargains vu frith the delegation of 

men froi Frei >m County, who were pcomiaed that 

if elected Mr. Campbell wonld appoint ■ Premont County 

man aa warden of the penitentiary. Five candidatei bad 

placet "ii the Aral ballot of tin* morning, Mr. Wolcott having 

out of 811, and Mr. Campbell L49, the latter thus 

jacking nven of a major This deficiency was pro 

for in the second ballot bj the ahifting of the Fremont < kranty 

: from one of the minor candidatei bo Campbell 

es also hastened to i»<- a it h the i in- 

n.-r. inn it was the Fremont County delegation which gave 

him the nomination. 

lose of the convention Ed Wolcott was 

(led an unexpected opportunity to show his metal 

efore he iia<i been willing if do! anxious to 

pi the nomination for < 'oii^ivsv, ami with his own con- 
ili-il .1- a prospective candidate for < !on« 

g r eai) i<>nai honors Dp to this time he ha<i nut fixed bis 
gaxe on i - Knowing of his aspiration to represent 

injfton, the Windmills sought to tempt 
him With i" of the honor at this lime. Recognising 

difficult] • State wit hont the aid of ' he 

the Domlnal i ampbell t bey 

C ngreaaionaJ oomi- 

10 would D6 hih for th<- I !!■ antlj and 

Indignant ly refused. 

Mr. Hamiii and Mr. Wolcott Dominated as Chairman of 

... Mr. < II aflee p. bo had been prominent 

in u on of the antl Wolcott forces, and then h-ft 

■ >uld Mr. 

• ■ be a weak candidate. I fe 



i\ Till BRO U>EB I nil' 

bad Utile acq through 

in law ..f the I ' " H 

• •«1 u n h bu\ In 
opposing cam i • - l '• < . 

dent in ' 

great imeltisg industry Be wai r gi 

hi of tplendld 
i U ul. I n- >t 

•..I it u.is s.niii fviiiciii thai do thing leei than a 
• ui-i prevent Mr. < ampbeir« def< 

the aarlj daji of the campaign thai the follow* 
lag lei ter a ai a rll 

Mi i 

i have n't i ritten home 
op with ill" qninsj, I hm been j demoralised bj i 

JOU 

kei beaten, but em un<l< 
11 li pmdeni f«>r d 
itamp the State, bal thall decline W 

i n't anything i.. li.-. -}«eech, 
whirlwind, i: 
that day, Qearj woald have tx.ru muuiiiattti. if tin- 

minated bj 
w . stand £ 

i . 
followed 

-'«1 in th- 

thr.-.- thoosand onl • I • _* - 

■ 
the >• iriag the thir 

TVUcr term, and Thomas M I' 



EDWABD OLIVEB W( >i .« :OTT 
lowing B< Iford was again returned i<» Congi 

I. ut !■■ 

a 1 1 spaper i * ► l < l during 

■ • of the frequent experience of Colo- 
• - in being i<»1<1 bj Eustern capitalists thai the 
oold go into the enterprises preaented to them if 
j Wolcott'a endoraemenl could be procured Then 
m that his election would have given the B 
anding In buaineae and \\<>ul<l ha\ «* Btimn* 

commercial development Thii In turn would 
servmtive sentiment, and would 
have retarded the torrent <»f radicaliam irhich swept 

a fen years later. And although they helped to 
inflict inch an injurj upon ih<- commonwealth, the dele 
from Fremonl County <li<l not obtain the wardenahip <>f 
.ill. 

:• made an attempt to justify hia 
ipbell| I'm during the next campaign, in i s M, 

■ ion "ii the subject of part} loyalty 

as foil 

Ice Individuals, become sometime! earelesi of the 

:.<i if for the . - sre 

sometimes happens that primary 

I in the in teres 1 of some unworthy man irho 

rment to glase and ©over an unsavory 
a win. in the soquisitioD <-f irealtfa irhich he 

■ -pf in- brow, lias made ambitious, and 

i of brains and 

M tin- w ay the minority 

• I w hen ire are told tiiat the 

< • 1 1 r medicine " 

ir unfit in- ii for > of the 

gentlemen, maj 'I" for 

irhich I belong. I 1<iv»- it fur Its splendid 
i in tin- past. I lo the principles upon which it 

n.ii rock, i learned to 

bidden in the attis 

sight to folio* their 

slave holding oountn to the 



l\ THE BRO \l'i.i: FIELD 171 

i 

1 

with the «ri 

within il 

'i>- un tit men itemaelvea 

■ 

i 

- OWB thinking 
in him, ifl unrit • 



L79 i:hw aki» OLIVER VTOLCOTT 

LOOKING R) ill} 

With the beginning of the campaign in 1 S M ii \\a* M-t-n 

Dti was i to withdraw fr«»m the Hill 

b, and lu* did n«'t figure to anj greet extent In this 

Hi Blaine was the Republican candidate 
dent thie year, and he had the heartg rapport of both 
of the w olcott d <•! the prei lous camp 

oot been forgotten, however, and while thej <ii<i Dot 

permit t: ad out of the party becan* 

action "ii that occasion, thej elected to pursue a modest 

Ded from anj great activity. Bd deliv- 

■ Dumber >ut he made do effort to influence 

prim.! i State. 

in addition i«» iii«- oational aspect of the campaign the 

.i very Important one. Benatori 

Teller and Hill continued at swords 1 points, and the conflict 

ause the Legislature a hich should 
: i- ii ill or elect I wr, must be chosen at 

action in November. Mr. Teller was still In the I 
1 Art bur had tailed i«> obtain the I ' 
al nomination it was known that <»n the coming 1th 
<.f Ifarch the Colorado □ would relinquish bis | 

folio. Be had announced over and again ins determination 
i" refrain froi entering the pub! . and had 

be would n«»i permit the nse of his name 

Mr Bill in the Senate. But in the 
ed upon i«> change this decision and was 
• the man who for the past sii 
mist 
In i lien Enton of Weld t taunt] a as I be 

. I)li< .in ■ . ■ i ernor, and he was • 

easily. 

■ i i \\ ol< "ii and Mr. 
'I'.-il.-r .!■ 1. 1 1 • — <•< l a iiH'Hing ingi-iiiiT in Denver. 

1 p as i be appear- 

two leaders of the opposing factions on the 

The joint meeting was brought about after 

ii iat ion, neither side b ; [all] anx- 

■ had been made both Mr. 



in THE IIHOADER FIELD 

Trllrr an. I Mr W 

O a afll i In t 
oo Mr W 

• I ■ .ss,-,| HI 

: 

• from tin' / <■ 
N 
■ fair example i»f tl 

mlng tli.- i: 

nl viriniiv turned mit to «l" honor !•• the • 

i ( 
•i fhr<>\\ 

nnlte In ; I hem tin- tru. 

R 1'iiri' 

■ imii that 

the • 

• .1 round* 

and 

II and for 

intr • permittii .• 

.11. he ]•'■ 

gbl them boa i 
the H 

who bMUfd hit: 

. . • , 
almOBl niperflt* u 11 

! no niatti 
. the enthoaiaai noaMOt, i 

.is*^s his rt. though 

seems an • 



i:i l.i'W \i:i» « »u\ 1:1: w i >].<< rTT 

i of which was made with telling 

• airing the plsudita of hii 

from the force and eloquence of the two speakers, 

to be it- arm.! from the fact that all personal 

•i lost in tin- oo on of the Interests which 

question of which partj should 

in the coming election, 

and the Si • of the bitterness which is said to 

the leaden <>f the parrj here, and the joining 

the day, ahowi a spirit of 

mmodatioa to Aral principles, which should teach those 

who heard the ipeakers thai whatever personal pi thej 

in local polities, they ahonld !»•: M first, last, and all 

the t i in*-.* 

also a weeklj publication, spoke 
more exclusively of Mr. Wolcd Vb speech, saying: 

' in vr man in public life erei I more graceful 

Hunt than that which was paid to the Son. Edward 0. 

ing man in politlCI 

!i nf performance meet the grace of 

• i Be l'-ft ail the ' hii ad 

robber] of antiques from the political 

• t ..f the past. His a< hi aight and • Iran 

■ i. 1 1 bad I bonesty throughout 

it lafl all the old ways of custom and took the narrow path of 
h touched what belonged to the national cam] 

ell. it peached the source of all that belongi to 

political situation In the State, and 

w hat it ed. It wai the splendid 

genu! i an who baa the elements of more itrength 

-r.-n fur a long time In 

What Mr. vV< B evening ia worth re 

h is th<- essence of the newer thought In our public 

that (be in politici bi n'Jfh, 

Pter all. In- auch i serioui mistake to be 
. a reminiscent 
; j to materialise a mon< 

deal 1 ith a pOOf id- al which 

will i id the practical, and then-fore will alwaya 

• flHhnesa, idealism, and vacuiti in such 



in Till: BROADER FIELD 

thought which 

B 

ht the main hall «.f mir |*.lit 

1 In- will. I 

quent, <|ui.i*. an. I earnest, h< 
thought which mpreaeed it-- 

Id. II'- ' • 

il is thai he nhoald remember it" \<r<<*< 

FBI CAMPAIGN "t 1 v - 

In i RSfi M r Wolcotl I d candidate f 

-.Ml. Ill 
« '■.li\.-liti<»!l t | . ;il|\ aillP-llIi 

an. I aanumed the i 
relinquish until el 

later In I b io in gei 

langu rred to hie lN.it ..f 1882, bat only to ji 

No longer * ne M r. Wi 
Mr inn Indeed, with lii^ • I from tl I - 

1 had r.-tnrn.-.l with 

I. ttie more i <>f him in ■ : 

3M 
pnbll • over tl - on, he an 

rting the pat 
long 

B 
the Inteu 

II. . 
the Domii 
Bechoj : 
EL Meyer, of < County, 



i;i»\\ ai;i» OLTVEB WOLCOTT 

and • • ation ni i rnoc 

.. - andidate for re elect ion ; <>\.i 1 1 
fterward ■ Repn 
• -s. aini I Moynahan, of Park 

bad been ■ popalai B 
le Wolcotl wss able to Dame bis candidate In 
rention, he vraa not ao successful befoi »ple. 

mpbellj sras little known, and, ai wai 
! .\ I lie candidate of fom yean prei loi 
■a i'h hai Republican ti<k«-i 

former campaj ntial candidate t«> 

•i him, ;ui<l bif < >n tin* 

r hand, the l >emo< i fortunate in their 

\i\a Adams, of Pueblo, ■ pioneer, young, popu< 
aded i heir i icket, and 
be, lik( * ted w ith little difficulty. 

• I is year was fought by the ( Jolorado 

•a national lines. In bit speeches, Mr \\'i»l- 

-lv to the popular enthuaiaam for Blaine, 

bad been defeated bi < 'leveland for 

dency. He I * « - 1 « 1 the Cleveland administration ap 

ii and specially denounced Its carpet-bag mel 

in the mat deraJ appointment! In Colorado methods 

e found to I"- quite In conflict srith thi I 

• Mr Cleveland himself. He defended Mr. 

and claimed for the entire 

ibliran i nuperior el democrat le can 

■ ', \\ i;..-.|. a j. «.|.nlar Congregational 

ive much attention ; and 

, fop ( '..lILTfSS, 

v ! •• le him the of much sarcasm, 

,i.i been true thai " the 
of dispul ■ be scab of the « Jhun 

II. ; : if not in elect ing Mej er. 

til \| r \n olcof t '" i be ' hreshold 
• . and w e im.i him now 
If •• in dead earnest" 



I w < > Senate >rial Elections 



■ 



PWO SI EIATORIAL I I ! < 1 1« 

A ill i: Mi \\ 
III f..r i! i 
ii-.n from ■ promise 

the Dnlti 8 B i •■■■•• 

ral with 

■ I with ] 

I 

f t he H o 

do politii 

H 
lie had l*-«-n In i*-! • • - Mr Wo 
- • ■ . 1 1 : far t iw r I 
I : : i • • 
(loath a 

B 

il|w>n ! 

1878 

"f 1m. til -if 

in pi 

in Jnnonry, lJs*C», th. 

8 
tli.l n.'i | . 
i nv ti ith 8 1 Mil. 



180 i.i.w aim ► <»l.l\ EB WOLCOTT 

•I until 1886, two yean after Ifir RTolootf had 
idrawn from the Hill ranka and had refuted I 

eman in hia antagonism to Senator Teller, 
\| r w olcott appn i • l i 1 1 lz his on d 

I the campaign of that 

Bought H i in oof and Informed him of oil ambition 

e a member of the Sonne. By thia time Benator 

r had had abnndai I odj the chare 

of th( an, Be 1 • had diacerned In 

him re qualities of leadership and thai tranecendenf 

ability which made it poaaible In li - for Hr. \v«'i- 

• nmiainl I <»n, n<»i ..f th«- masM-s muIv. but 

economic thought both in America and 

an wai not then averse bo ■ 

with thii young man of bo mnch force and of 

Sis pracl Bed eye had nol failed to 

that when Bd Wolcott was with Mr. Hill, lir, Hill 

won and that when Ed Wolcott'a Influence and guiding 

prere a Ithdran n, Mr. Hill loot 

Wii! - Teller once more aafelj occupying hie 

Senate, and with Mr. Hill in private life, there 

• • an} sharp conflict between them; but if li 

U improbable that the Benator felt i «• friendly 

• becauae of the latter'a refusal In i s m to 

ii for the Benatorahip. Be thii as if may, lir. 

\\ ..1 a cordis ; • ef Ing a hen he called upon 

He did not, however, hnd any encouragement 

in his amliit iun tn ivjirrsrnt tin* Stall- in tin- lower lloufie 

I J. Syini'H was I In- rep- 

i\. and, while he and 
Mr Teller wi icularlj allied in politics, they 

red onlj one term, 

able, and a itfa man] other 

i pller i houghf him enf it led to I 

1 Mr n\ olcott, and then -ir_ r 

■ him that be should be a candidate '<• racceed Ben* 

e a "uh I expire in i K89. 
• he Inten leu . he said : 

■ ill. I nut try f..r the Souse Sj iii.'s ifl .-ii- 



TWO BEN \ i"i:i u. KLK<TH 181 

efulneai ai 

t<» Vol. 

would 

it could 

U"rk from f 1 

i».-il all . 

nation for • Bonn 

ill that \shri, 

tion . ame "ii there wai bat rerj il 

ho wax 

• I 

r it it» lii" u-ua! ' 

manner 

trol 

followed 

■ >n in the r and ii> ' 

w 

ernor in IS> 
of the G 

politictJ friendi gen er ally, with the partv worker* thr 
out the State. 
I 

Repoblfc 

I Will <»f thr nfl 

I • 

mall -l tttnem for 

s>..r. I'. 

most 

fi>r the B ^ hich ■ 

really Wai 



L82 BDWABD OLD EB SVOLOOTT 

and » . . 1 1 1 1 1 \ conventiona, on tli«* huntings and at the polling 

■ --'air com • — , the Aral in 

the then approaching National 

Republican Convention, and the second in September to 

Dominate State ofl lcera. .\i the ftraf Benrj Wolcotl waa 

en chairman '»f the delegation, and the f:i<i «.f bia can* 

didacj 1<-<1 t«> a verbal encounter between Bd Wolcotl and 

Judge Bel ford, which, whil< >tten bj both, 

lerable feeling at the t ime. 

The M;i\ convention ras held in Pueblo, and it waa then 

t h:iT Mi-. Wolcotl referred to thai cit] ai M a pleasant little 

villa, otended at a joke, and waa 

m his enemlea die 

reflection on thi letropolis and 

it nit ii" small figure in the campaign. The meeting waa 

full of incidents. In Mr. Wolcott'a principal speech, he 

made brief reference i" his revolt of 1882, saj 

• I am glad thai kind friends and time have reared the 
ite <>f limitation againal the men who have unwittingly 
their i .;ii i \ allegiance, for there are none without 
faults. We have all «l< «ih- It, and dot* I suggest thai we are 
ad to work together for tin- intereal <>f the party." 
aa later in the daj thai the conflict with Judge Bel 
ford ar — Mr Wolcotl introduced a resolution providing 
ppointment by the chair of a committor i« ku 

onal Oonvention Mr. 

i to amend bj providing for the selection «>f 

the ■ the various county delegations In I 

i, Kuppoi amendment, he made a remark which 

Mr • bat he had packed the 

i . d brought mui a si inging reaponae 

fron v • temporary oewapaper account 

i j.i_\ •• i here a aa fli • eye." The 

ounl quo tea him i m r. Belford a i'li a 

i eu ty, and then aaj lug: 

of mine might ba 
i < ivention; it waa with 



TWO OBI \i. l i i:< i !• 

■ 

h in th.- ii. 

!. t<>r I would !»••» .nt. -ii .; 

Relford denied thai he bad IVol 

packing the convention, but he adi 

■ • 
motion prevailed 

pirll at the fall • 

• •f the ah 

•nan\ ..f them the 
grown a i.it older, who had followed him in 18C 

I ^uj'jM.rt. an. I 

onlj willing t<» folio* \ would lead, bn( di 

the u.i\ eren « I 

I ! 

take anv it i.li- 

- f..r Hi.- Sfatr "Hi. 

copj thai position of Impartial!! 

ulti 
pprovaJ ii|».n Job \ I 

Dei inker, 1 1 

Dominated and 
ilao friend 

\i •• \ 

of the then Color 
menti - 
and, second, b 

lied upon 

I -1 : 

ad (or t l 

d the I'urpoeee 



i:i»\\ ai;i> « 'i i\ EB w I >LOOTT 

ami •■• Bi that I QtTC not I straw. \<> 

man ran <in\.- me <»ut of the Republican party. I wan born In 

It 1 ••! 1 Bball (lit- in it. 

I u . . iitmn that if any aspirations 

that I may haw or that any ft mine haw for im 1 , 

instant in th.- way >'f i hi- harmony ami the 

•h ami th.- prog W «»f the K«-|.uMi<au party in «,ur U- 

Btati ere ii not a man Ihrii ij to lacrifloa 

all ii|M.n tin- altar "f I as am I. The B6D1lblieUII 

tnlted, nor uniy in Colorado, i»u t all orar the oountry; 

ami <la\ tin- im-ii in tin- WO\ •! in tin- mills 

hi- maim', rfc ami OonnOOtlont ami 

II deolare that kmerloan i 

should be protected, and tin- men end the lorn of the men who 
thin Onion will eee t<» it thai bj reaaon «>f 
u. are not again subjected t<> four jean mora 
of the nnmiliat mooratie role. 

Sir \\.....m was the chief factor in the content. Be 

rring and ancceoefuJ campaign. Not onlj waa the 

ticket elected, hut the Legialatnre was overwhelmingly 

Mi. an. «;:: of tin- 7." memben being of thai political 

peranaaion. A majority <>f the Etepnbllcan cancna were 

pledged in advance to Mr Wolcott in ■ rote of abonl 

i, the Harrison PreaidentiaJ Blecton bad a majority 

«.f more than 18,000. 

i n [on 

i • \le\ ■ i nenatorial cancm was bald on the night 

• i . ilatnre conld begin to 

• l<> li - Jnntified by the ergu 

nmnt that until tin- senatorial i|u»'sti<m was si-mIimI the 
lature would transact no ntln-r l.usiiii'ss. ( »f a numher 

• \ loualj men I ioned for the Ben 

oor permitted thei 

in tiiat connection to the end of the content, 

I- us they fulls realiaed 

re nil. M r. \n olcott a aa Dominated 

'■> Mr. Bo wen 'a 15 and 

Mr . cancna which met at eight o'clock 



T\\< > SEN \ I- »i:i \i i in i [< 

• [uon B ■ 
d Mr. Wo 1 cot t In i 
eolog 

if DOl I 

' with thOM of 

Dortl 

tfon or mountain eh 
■ 

01 
- i mentioned for thin bign office, there 
wHi equipped Of m permanently quai 

|. ller on I non Dominate n I 

D u ill In- .1 trio 

i»f tin- young men of the Republii dm enthu* 

ntnl leal ;i'l.|.-<l "•■ nun-h ti> tin* -in-- ■•••«•« <>f mir i >n nil 

il, and I | 
•hv with nil tin- Bfl 
[••'••I i\> him ;i- 

intellect, and ■ for bim i grand 

iii«.ii the floor «>f the Ben 

i the Domination continued until lata 

in the night, but not too late for Mr, Wolcotl to pen 
follow 

1880. 
My D 

tin«t line 

my iir««t : 
moth 

shnll n.v.r hr v».|l 

•! if rati 

d rarj araob aj 

Tho election did n«.t take ] of tho 



1 l»w \i:i» <»i.i\ i;i; WOLOOTT 

ite and House 

w I the lull Re- 

Si ate nineteen and in th< B 

B snate and 

the House, was caai for Hon. Charles B r omaa. 

there was no speech-making, and when, in 

ce with the i<-^ai reqn the balloting waa 

ii ut twelve o'clock i hat i»«"i 

In tin- Senate both Mr. Wolcott and Mr. 
were formallj nomii Senator I 

dent pro Senate, who had named l£r. 

tned i hie sen ice in hla 
ii. 

in Domination ■ 

Mi- Inn also tin- plcasaul 'lui\ "f 

ator i.. ill in the oonnetli of 

• on the Hli Of Mar- Ii. I ^ '. 

we have met to perform that 
of the Chamber we havi d our 

• liiv name for it" ! in s body 

wih the unalterable . i 

ort with the « 

of the State, bat to those of us 
,i\ an. I who have watched 1 1 » « - • 

an< <• an. I charm. I 

he name of Hoi I da ard « »■ ^ ol 

- the nominee for the high offl< e of 

- 

Mr w d. Be re 

n in ilia I community whoae 

t the 1 • Kiiam ..f learning. « Soming • 

eroih uniil 

in it the topmost round 

! ; qnalitiei and splendid 

name 

■t the brilliancy >>f hii genius 

end ■■:•■•• w hen the 

■: \\a- a I OnOS 

upon the Republit B id in 

[one, and logl' 



I W OP I OKI \l. Ill' I |< Is; 

that 

; ' • - 



ronnal n in joint amemblj 

of the two Fl "ii the folio* 

■ I r 1 ,,- I [ouw 

red \lr w ol« utt the choi f M • - 

•i the following ltd <»f \i.,t. i 
tli Mr v 

'••nl iiniisM.il brill 
1 1 
nd .1 fen 

\\ .1 1 Li «1 i|«.\\ I 

H 
mi ..f th,. i! 

■ ' 

■ 

the • -i). 

The journals >>f I i i 

the i a 8 



188 ! I » w a l: l » OUVEB WOLOOTT 

P • ■ - • i arpenter made formal 
election «»f Hi \n olcott 
a a committee im eppoioted i«» wait upon the 
and officially inform him of the penult <>f the elec* 

■ bran, «>f 

and Represents! ive* B err a, of Arapt 

! '• rtholomew, «»f Summit Count] Vet} soon after ita 

atment the committee returned, Mi Wolcott, 

• red with prolonged and clamorona applause. 

After « 1 1 1 i * - 1 bad been restored, Mr Wolcott made ■ brief 

addn tion <«f the honor conferred npon him. In 

which be - 

Sfcd i. ii inr coold 1" 

• '-f thanking yon for bestowing npon dm the 

oor in the gift of this Commonwealth, and if mj 

and i ipeek with halting tongue, believe me, it if 

- 'nil Mini because your confidence tooch< 
for n ords. For, j bo < olorado I 

\'\ bV I my 1 1 1 : i u 1 1 i ban I 

paMM<i hi : m much in \ borne 

• ii bOIH within hrr limits. I Hiring :ill tin 

the daj dreami which till a young auuva brain, none 

often reeni d ;i- one 

■ da) perhape I might l><- called npon t<> ahaie in rep 

- ate in the eonncila «>f the Nation. "> on 

that which I h:i<l f raced 

true ;iini real ai la m\ gratitude. And 

ull for i - my 

• nhould I' 

ii i iih«. i- ;imi cruel bitter, 

• wnatorial 

m and assault 
on . ■ ben It Ii all orer, we maj ;iii t :» u «• 
pleasun In ren i 

• ;i uh bnt the mnd we throw." 
And against me bare in 



TWO >i N I POR1 \i. l.ii 
with 

■! • • 
■ 

Aflmnblj, an. I thai 1 a* 

- 

i 
H 

tiled u|H.- 

'<il login 

i 
la ea*<*ntinl for 

I 
1 kno 

•turn who 

- who 
froi) 

y mi\ins. 1 
then tli.it Iriw.v:, h nhall l*o 



EDWABD OLIVEB JVOl .» , i it 

of your tetioo ; " daj . i ihall reed their 

fade, ami shall mall with 
i shall iiv«-, iiu-ir friendship, tln-ir 

• 

.f the newspaper chronicler* «»f the time men 

v. to hii brother, and 

of them, referring to I Eei ry, - d tha( 

• ■\\ l.-vs conspicuous than the Benator-eli 

lie -.ti midwaj from the entranoe i<> tin- floor of the Bouse, 

: his brother's election and th«- 
llnmined with the great joj be 
b 
I i . ii \ touch "f nature in th<- 
in the pride <>f l ance <«f the highest 

fi <>f the Commonwealth, pointed!) and gracefully 
and the other exhibiting the 
it felt. 

upon tin n, 1 he Hm I -/ Mountain 

• I : 

it « when Mr. Wolcotl commenced talking, 

I sen ral times, 

: par 

1 1. able 1 1 in i\\ w olcott, 

M w ulcol i KtepiMxl 
(] and for the next ten or 
nils w iih membera 
I Ii who crowded • 

■«. him at the 

eral rejoicing. 

ratulation followed, 

M\ none i arried faction or touched a 

Ion log from i'" 



TWO POK1 \i. ill ' 

- 
I thiol 



inj from the yoi 

ban | ■! i ' 

■ 

fatal 

ud | 
I 

Th«» j- ■ : 



i:i>\\ .\i:i> <>i.i\ EB WOLCOTT 

dud of the attain «>f your country, 
ami 1 ik.«- men. 

• • tnben ol the * Huh f<>r me, ud 
• their Mend end yo 

Sown 1 1 . w 

Mr. \\ i \ oraldv receh «-«l DJ i be prCM 

• Dlorado, I'N maiiv of tin- Democratic papen at wall ai 

of the Republican journal* The Rocky Mountain 

the leading Dei | . ; • r of the State, devoted 

1 1 ii 1 1 1 editorial to Ifr. Wolcott on the daj after h i 

Domination bj the Republican cancan, in part: 

ould not be ohoaan, the choice of 

Mr eminently aatiafactorj ti> the 2fe%o$, and will be 

i«» the people of tin- Btate. Hit election In fad is the anal 

immution of the overwhelming irhich irai won by 

party ai the polli In November Lact, irhich ric 

and carried to to lucceatful and 

brilliiint a concluaion. 

a non-partiaan ttandpoint, the people of Ooloradc are 

gratulated upon Ifr. Wolcotfi choice. He Ii youngs 

able, ninl rliMjiirnt. lit- is |. iiius, culture, and I 

omprehenaive mind. n«' baa daab and bril- 

oirj for leaderahip. Aa ■ lawyer be 

the ant; ea an orator in- i>- without i peer In 

her the elegance of bii composition, the 

• or the brilliant rounding of 

;i man he baa ;i handsome presence and hearty, 

true m ateel to bia friendi and 

follon • 

- s'orthi 

i, in the counaela of the high 
ion, and to i bi< h be will bi 
fortunate romb if iiit«-n«'ci and manhood, which, when 

: ri|H mil t.v ;i^.-, \h ricMined to 
' the foren oo and "f 

iblican i • ; t it \ honora itwclf by Ifr. RTolcotfi 
mi. 



. 

N\ i i EiALLY, the free 
t i o 1 1 , u.is ^ i \ , ■ 1 1 i . , 

. .iimI we ihall 
i.u-\ in. in While forging bii eraj rapidly »■> the Cronl 
Washington, he also round much t.» do m 

i !•• . onld doI 
tool "f the i».ti'\ n 

In iddil 

• I 
Polil allj and o I anl- 

dron during Mr u tern In I 

- 
B 
I 
B 
r in the world el largi 
1 

red from 

required ; 
through the turbuli 

i 

in the | 

B nil of tii- 



e of any other political 

>n "f tin* countrj \m will appear in the proper 

Ither Bo 

■ 

Colorado Senator. But, al«*rt and courageous though 

• lit «>f bringing ranch condemnation upon 

hi* head fr.Mn the opponent pnda, hii 

• 'v prononnced to n I the den 

.•lit at home Silver took 

almost coiu]»!' • them, and the man 

w ' o to follow tin- vagal ; n«li- 

mter waa Instantly and viol 
and an h 
In expreaaion, out 
the advocacy of any can* rased, a itndy 

of ii : - at E 1 1 WmI.-oi t b1 ill s a* i con 

Ifob rnle had do charmi tor him; anarchy was 
m lii • believed in law. He waa ever orderly, 
.in supported established condition! more steadfastly 
•i\ than he While under provocation he 
conld be Independent, i «:t r t \ ties were binding opon him to 
an Dnusual degree, and, as will be teen In dne course, rather 
ike hia party, rather than folios what h<- bel 

ble and ineffectual planning! of those who 
left the p lilver, he remained ■ Republican, and 

r.-iir.Mi himself froni the Senate 
final result waa not, however, precipitated nntU 
In that body for twelve years, nor until 
1 happened, and In Justice it should 
• Ion waa responsible for the 
uhir '' W '. It also **as of mat* 

md election. That ele 

in tho ini'Nt "f the agitation ancceedin 

clauae i erman .'i«-t authorizing tho 

DOfl ouncoi of aili er per mont b, and ;it 

; i had hope of restora* 

ability aa a nat lonal advo* 

aniversally recognised that, so l « > 1 1 lt aa 

bility of prevailing npon the Republican party 

more f.i\<.rai»l<- stand than had been assumed, hit 



rw< ori \i. i.i.i i 

folio* • r the ■-• ■• 

Hiicli possibilities Bui the 

uncertain fatal 

In 01 

■ 

In ilir nut nui 
Ian metal a \ivi\u 

mou< In the irorld U i 

w bether <l . 
- ■ 

lv oat "f joini 'hi-- 
• i- 1 • I , indeed. i was 

Ay «li<l i 
B 
8 

mining, the j'.irai:. 

indui ■ !«»r:iil<». ! imbined result "f I 

<»f t! . if India a nt i 

twelve Denver banks failed Id time in ' 

ploveea of industrial ini re thrown onl 

men who had counted their wealth 

• I u in, the unempl 

cinitj «»f ' 
imp in th( 
men out of v->>rl were tupported fi 

I n. 

immunity 

wl in polil 

nmrnt, nml 

usjnilitj. 

The Populist ;. Litiom 



BDWABD OLIVEB WOLOOTT 

innii.-.li.i' ding this si t uai i« m, and with thai party 

■ the most fan tast i« al ideSJ "f i!"\ minimi that lliis 

country baa kOOWD. With it also < ainc the motliest group 

• liar ha.l h.-.-n lift«i| in:.' DOWSf in any place 

the days of ill.- French Revolution. Not bo compactly or 
ganlsed as the anarchists who overthrew tin- French monarchy, 
nor, "f course, so regardless <>f human lif»- and human r i lt 1 1 1 - . 
thej were aln termined npon rorcing tin- acceptance 

of their theorh arnment Many ..f them were elected 

to State and county offices in various "f tin- Western States, 

ami « 1 1 1 i t • - a sprinkling found s.-ats in the national 00H 

:i-' — I'm- |M-r«ciita.L , «' at Washington never araa largi 
that the greatest harm done bj them there was the Increase 
«'f printing bills and the overtaxation "f the patience of 
their innocent colleagues, who were compelled to listen to 
their speeches in tin* Halls uf Ci»n<rrt'ss. 

Colorado was among th< 8 rhich sent Popnlial mem 

ben to Con g r e ss; but truth demands the statement that, in 
all re i olorado't Popullsl Congressmen were worthy 

much d ervative than most "f their compeers 

<.f other States, and in ever] waj h<»m-st and devoted '<• 
- welfare. Indeed, Colorado was Populistic onlj 
on account <>f silver. The Colorado people always arere 
. green backi am never gained any foot- 
hold in t 1 • 8 But with the abutting down "f the silver 
mines people sas departing their employment, their fortunes, 
their bread and butter. Thej were desperate, and they were 
willing t.. turn '" Populism because, if for no other reason, it 
the old parties, neither of which prom ised anj relief 
erned :i" '" whether an] si ould be given. 
With Benjam Barriaon :i^ the Republican standard* 
eland leading the 1 democrat i<- hosts, 

m 1892, Milrer ••<! whichever "f ti hi parties won, 

- * — i « i promised fn - omlsed s hundred other 

a illing to take anj hook ' hat <;i i 
t, and it swallowed Populism arith James B. Weaver 
D 1 1 w site 
Mr Wolcott nil. Hi enough to see that Popu 

national success, and he araa too true to his 
osrn manh I Bee it for mere temporary personal 



TW( • rOBl \i. I I I < i u 

lo al d< niand 1 1 • 
■ 
greu .hi. i the more nnmero 
terniined 

duct of Populism ii'- wai the l J 
r In < 'olor 

for i wo \,-.u v i ■ ted ' hat 

n. il chair COtl the 8 I mil- 

lion dollari in money, u> wn nothing 

ri-.siiliin^ from his univa>nnal»l»« ' Mir r 1 • 1 1 ■ 

forth l.\ h 

• I e vYaite and I be Waite i • 

: 890, in i hich t 1 ,. 
ferent Factioni of the Republican party irere the print 

ere for u 
the •' ' lang " and the ■ in .1 

lj u .irfar.- « it h no boi f content loi 

and ■ ■• > ofli. .•«.. < 'oiiii. •.;.■■ I u ith • \u*hv »rai 

effort on 'tain cor] 

their own Interests. This political ■ 
ed Into th< SI • i suit ing in two 

- in the lower Hon-.-, .i iltnntlon which threat 

feller in hia candidi ' ion. 

M r rVolcott k.-j>f aloof from 1 1 . 

told do, but he devoted I mai I 
mlg] • d to keeping Republican lam in tl 

regardless of factional dinYnm • -s. In this I,. 

fnl • 98 G 

1 • , • t at its ■ 

271 h, Mr \\ ol< ot ' made bit ' Bring 

deUrered 
rado Springs, and the tud 

Many of thorn I »H on got] 

. but they ioon a 
s, and it nt that they mesj 

• •:% Tl i addresi i 
to nat lone Deluding 

he made reply to oei r\ pon hlnn 



i:i»\\ aim* OLIVER WOLOOTT 

>rado never has bean perj considerate of the feel* 

of public men, and Mr. VFolcotl Cell keenly the falsity 

i <»f attacks made on aim at thia time from cer- 

B< referred to such onfair criticism as 

a menace to the welfare of the community, but refrained 

from specific discussion <«f the things Bald about himself. 

arks aaving been Liberally applauded, Mr. Wolcott 

continued i 

w ii;iii\.r public ehargei axe made should !>«• Investigated if 

they Seem MrionS, but in ninety nine <>f ;i hundred i ;iscs ymi 

will find that their source discredits them. We all beliefs in 

I public ion oa None ol hi bare any use for unfaithful 

The fad Is thai s nev d throw dirt i 

r, and in this Btate when- population Is Increas 

!i:ii Is apparently respectable 

are misled by Its utterances. The] ,lu ""' know the bistorj 

of the paper <t <»f Its 01 ner. 

the Coliseum In Denver Ifr. Wolcott made a 
b <>n the night of November •"•. i v '.m. In which, after 
discussing national affairs, he said: 

Because this municipality Is renal and corrupt and because 
the Iocs! corporations In their effort t<> further their own Interests 
iggling for the local machinery and seeking to buj their 
<pective >>f the public welfare or the public 
renues through which or i>\ which ih<- public maj ex] 

are choked with faction and disgraced by local 

x*et somehow In the end the wsj is 

ad if this community is denied the opportunity of 

and united exprwudon at thi^ election it i*- nevertheless 

true that the people who care not i one oorporatioo 

or the other but wh< i ment and clean govern 

will dump Into th bese gutter politioians, \\h<». 

■ 1 1 tr bi th- present th< tacle, but \\ bo, 

and ■ orporate rotes behind them, seem 

omethlng. And the people prill and lome waj to 

. the atmoapbere <-f the municipal and official Infamj which 

r the community l i w • - a dark oloud a menace t" g I 

eminent. 

eaking at some length <»n the tariff and the 
country at large, he added : 



TWt I -i \ \ i< »i;i ai. i. i.i.' i i 

\\ uli tins national MOOfd it 

there a in i«- do Iron 

The St ' oo Domii 

fntm a welfare of < ire 1b 

■ 

..n the ticket 

pelted to bear the burden <>f 

: 
Which d hit ani::. 

One of t ■ which waa circulated at this tin 

that hr was not lending li > Kiip-Mirl lli-r, 

who i 

following January. Indeed, one of the ai 

tooned t he junior 
li bending orer ail aenior with a lonj held 

and read} to plnnge it Into the back <»f the 
the Intimation was crnellj unjust 

the election of mi 
the Leg i» ire friendly to bii colleague, M r. \ I 

: 'in ever} Republican Senator and & 
to vote for Teller. Be entro 
i friend. 
amber of the Legislature, who visited all the h 
at their homes in advanre of th.- in.-.- m ._• 1 
this ,.ni\. Mr WolcOtt All 1 • 1 1 T DOC "f the 

attached to the promim with- 

held only becanae "f acruple againal the proceeding, 
member in tin- end cast ing I irr. 

That in 1 89] M r. W olcotl * rahlo 

willii re for the higl impliahmenf the follow* 

i 11L r telegram declining an invit 

dinner in I Denver in l v • 

I 1 : ■ ■ , ( 

1 1 • .ml of Ti •■ 

I am in receipt "f jma kind ii. 
the annual banqnel of thl 
B UU7 Ifftk My put) 



i:i>\\ \i;n ni.ivn; WOLOOTT 

■ M-iui' here at this t i in« - . ami I must forego the 
ting w ith 

(jring that at this t i 1 1 1« - the beet h I 

\h an- identical with the truest ai;<l best inter- 

country. The Increased leonred by 

the legislation «.f last tummer, In my opinion, greatlf relieved 
tin- t «-n ;- i« m which ■ i bj the trouble! of the Argentine 

■ I i « - . and the measure for the fn 

product, which ii boh on its triumphant course, win make inch 
eontractiou of raluei end financial itringenej u ire ire now 
witnessing impossible in the future. 

tion it working earnestij end unitedly 
• -ult. 
:.ai sttacki on mjaelf bj enemies, who own i newa- 
paper, charging me with eecret hostilit, coinage, in no 

nrb me. 
But in Hew of the united ti^iu Western Senator! are mat 

any trait.-r. .us attack frmn journals which assume to favor free 

coinage ii an attempt t" destroj and disintegrate and n< 
opbuild and to strengthen. 

Your bodj ie non-partisan and seeka onlj the highest and 
opment «»f Colorado. We, on our part, believe that 
in view ..f the vast interests Involved, party Unei grow din 
on a I ism become! unworthy. 

OB) ( '. WOI DOR. 

ii UUU801 i' I \« I 

it was iii L892 that the top began to bom. For soma 
time stiver bad occupied much «»f the attention of both 

■ s ,,f ('..iiL'r.-- 'I'll.- -...all.-. I Sherman A< i of 1890 

for the purchase of 1,500,000 ounce! ol silver per 

i had prored extremely onpopular in the buaineea 

because of the f«;ir that the 

country would be flooded with silver to the exclnaion of 

i i era of both "i«i part lee were com- 

.1 of the pnrchaaing proi iaion. Already 

dent that only bj the moat strenuous i 

could the white metal retain the equivocal position it 

• i. in the Senate Mr. Woicott and Mr. 

• had labored daj and night to improve conditions; but 

unmerdaJ world i rong that 

• . . ii r.-«l to foresee t lie hear appn>a< I 



II 



TWO SENATORIAL ill.' H< 

"f i di it the 

a had t;i Of bold 

fhboring - - ; i.s and ! 

man} pi 
forth fr« >n i ■ 

< Mi Kebruurj 1 1, 1892, three mont 
Iflnneepolii Con rent ion, 

ewi a Ith !»«.th the I 

in - oding of I • 

t<» f I • D€ bad .iiiiiMiin. ed 

ti.ui 

cand I the anDoaocemeot irae ■ eore diaappointi 

wan i»pji 
Miinat loo, \i r w ol< ot ' repl led 

■nee then 10 la public Lift 

■ 

! thi- 
ll Infloee 

<-lT«>ri iiiii.|<- I 

for ■ rer DMoej i 

the di morning 

r m. -n in \ . a hare understood 

i»ut bare, until ooi 

that, if he would aee that 
Bland law the maximum Dumber of siiv.-r do 
eaoald !-• coined each Booth, it « 

m • • v i . l • • 1 1 1 thai •• bill • ould it 

timr be peaaed. I It dm lined 
kiml aeked for, and 

i 
mlghl bnpt 

fnl of tin 

■ | 
i 
a bill for the fn 

x nntruo; whollv untrue li i 

itatemenl to -sume re>. 

nnnor was fljing 
■torj e/ai the eae fold bt • 

silver B 



1 ;n\\ \i;i» OLIVER WOLOOTT 

;!v Implied bj their support Ol llarri- 

\<i\ with. .ui anj foundation 
reputable man can be brand who erill i 
[i .... the ibanrd I inch i law*! erer t »**i n>r 

• -- i»r b\ tin- I * : • - • : • : 1 1 it, m apparmt that 
: ■ | :■[. I will v.n 

■ ■II that twenty men could not !»«• found In Oon< 
greae van would rote for inch ■ measure. T) • 

of all the Western and Southern States would at. an- 
il-, n tin- eilTer - e if they irere •eriouelj aaked bo 

paB8 ml h a law. 

II. pinion ai t<> who the strongest candidate 

ion w in be at the Mlnnee mention 1 

n... I dden and unexpected withdrawal of 

Mr. B - i « - f f thoae opposing li. renominatiofl at 

i. ut tin;. thing that can t»- relied 

noon ding men «»f the Bepublican party w1 '" , ' av '' '"■ , " 

pronounced In urging Mr. Blaine to stand ai a cand 

will unit.- u j .. .ii -..in.- Other man WOTthj the support ..f 1 i«- j -uW- 
OUghout tin- land. 

: * - 1 1 t Barriaon at Washington among 
unbar of tin- most Influential and leading Republican 
mntry is hard i" comprehend. Thi 
them that li. in.-. .n cannot I 
Dominated, and lince th< el leve that 

■ table Bepublican can carrj the country, they will feel 
■ • , : :■ in ant e of their duty t<» prerent tli 

ud ili.- reporter j MipjM.he when th i- 

lahle that HnrriHOn will ]•■ 

irado delegation under inch 
to bring ii about '.' 

• ; led Mr. WolcOtt ) can 

■ lvi-h in voting for I [arriaonl 

■ Bepublican parrj ihall 
• •■l to free lilver legislation, 
tall <i<» Likewiee, lilrer will 

irithJfl the next eighteen 
my opinion it . • to tall about boto the 

■ -.ut without diaaet 

■ fair recognition grren to 
partial thii year it will never 






T\\< I OKI \l III • 

will I 

dhoold !»• 
apph i 

•hat mraii. if M -"t» ihodld be H 

. 

tin- f.i.t. if be ihoold l- roald !-• b» 

t li • - ooanti 

pel i: • "rt hiii). Lei 

re Dot personal ; th< 

V\ ■ !i in iln» (ui'v <>t ml li ;nl\ i 
Mr i i i ••«! the nomii 

■ 

:. 
H 

[mm his dm nfall. II--. 
Whei Bilked 
think Mould ••! 

. 

I would 

i 

■' 

ft 
tag I 

for 1. 

I n m wi 1 1 : : 



204 1:1 »\\ ai:i » < ►LIVER \n « 'it ■< >TT 

: or fall ujM.ii in \ record I Colorado ma 

in.i if th< u-h to overwhelm 

the Republican perl m of mj public totioni or my 

gi with men, 1 ihall, when my kern li out, 

anme the garb "f I private dtiaen with the otmoat cheerfoli 

confident that I in n<»t t.. blame for the reauH either aa ■ men 

Teller end Wolcotl ware delegate! to the National Etc 
publican Convention, which m 1892 met In Ifinneapolia, 
Mr. Teller wai ■ member of the Committee on Beeolotiona, 
and in that capacity brought to bear all the skill and tad 
at his command In behalf of ■ poeitive declaration In rap 
poii of bimetalliam ai a principle Mr. Wolcotl went to the 
conrention ai the eepecia] champion of Jamea G. Blaine, 
and to him wai awarded the very marked honor of placing 

• leader of hii party In nomination for the P 
dency, which wai done regardleaa of Mr. Blaine'a previous 
declaration againat the nee of hi* nam.'. n<- made a brilliant 
i. and hi- oratorj and magnetiam were mnch extolled in 

th DTention and throughout the country. But, aa wai 

Ifi Teller In hi* championahip of free coinage, 

be failed kga n Benjamin Barrieon waa named aa the 

blican standard-bearer, and on a platform which con« 

tained no, word of promiae to the ailveritee. Both Teller and 

m,.,-,. oppoeed on. Thej bad antagoniaed 

hi,,, dorii of office becanae of hia ontapoken op] 

• d bad come to dialike him personally. 

■ if POPU1 i^ N ' 

turned to l Jolorado, folio* ing the 
announcement of the defeat of their ailver plank and of the 

teal Of the Candidate whom th«-> ha«l i-KjM»anlly oppoRed, 

og. When a abort 
• , Democral plat ed Oroyer Cleveland in 
i aa much In diacredit aa Bepub* 
Olereland waa aa onfriendlj to eilver aa 
B . ;,,,,! tUrer waa the principal product of Colo- 

talked forth Populiam Populiam brought with 
d of everybodj who wa 



TWO BEN \ roRI \l. li l • l h 

fled with II 
1 1 promised fn i mined t.. 

• 
doctrine in th< I 9tate. The Populist National 

I 

I: \\ . rer, of lows, wu doi 

W 'i.|.ir<l, U 

and Republicans, jr.-. it and unall, 
the thousand. 

i:. 
public ■ ii bad ( >'l"i 

i tenrer municipal it] wn 

run only in tin- ii _-.ini. and 

bad ' I be macbine " thai the «i' Ik 

•ifn th»-ir <»un li:in«l.v In U • Hiil' 

Dominated a non p 
il it. 

< 'onventioo me( for the 

p!> «' Helm, 
and for i - prerious .1 member "f the Supn 

neb of the fi rnor. 

w him other excellent men were plai -••! on I 

■ 

ll.lW. 

n w ere d< 
■■ • 

\ friei 

on of th< 

i .if the 

tin* sppr 

i: National 

• the tit 
publi< an party would 
mon< 

! 



BDWABD OLH EB WOLOOTT 

irho have not bean ebl< J their point! on 

est on haw [lu- said] thought of nee chan 
:i which to makf their Influence felt, bu1 before re break 
for Bi i" consider the qaeetion folly end t«» 
rhether ire do oof endanger the fotore of the Repub- 
lican j.;irt.\. There are manj laaoee to the campaign when we 
l.K.k at the win.!.- land, in Colorado there ii no qneetion thai 
approaches in importance thai <>f the coinage of silver on ■ 
parity with gold «>n the ratio that prerailed until the infamous 

netization a.-t was passed. The endeavor <.f every in;. 

lorado mnal be to obtain thai end abore all i ie. But we 

..■ii. and must face the titoation This eleo 

ti..n : either Sarriaon or i I In the Presid e nti a l 

So man of sense i"<>ks for any other remit Bih 

party qneation. Tin- Booth and the Wrni are itandlng 

,.-, mi it. in tin- Baal there are Btatei heretofore in the 

ilican or the Democratic oolnmn in which there ooold be no 

man committed to the tree coinage of silver bnt would meet 

• 

nothing nnder Beaven for ne to do bnl to tabor 

m within onr parties in the fotore at in the past. 

There are in the People*! party men g l and tree long [denti* 

Republican party, and who again will be fonnd in 
inka. [1 )- for ne to reason with these man and draw 
them bad ir doty to work and to ihoi on electio 

. devoted to the party thai hai given i 
tuntrj to mankind. no shadou of donbt 

in in\ mind as to the triumph of the silver ran-.-. The k 

irking in the old parties. The Booth and West are going 

:• advocates have In-en denounced for a 
but the marching forward and tin das ii 

r bill will pass Im.iIi lhniso, and no President 

will d -i it. 

He dosed as follows "We have met as oft before to 

other bj the hand and look ea.li OtheT in the 
pledp- our lives, Miir h>\es, and our fortunes 

I party.* 1 

vr airman 

one of the moat confusing and axcit- 
.sii in the fi i e Popolists everyu here 



T\\ < . >i \ \ i < »i:i \i. ill' i i 

• I in iii. i! 

wen bo ''•■■: trot 
beard I 

niiiii'iir ..ii in..:. 

w 

•urn 
■ ii .-f tin* old p 

I iloradn outni<le •<( 

■ planded • 

-s..,l mn- 'i :i man Bhoold ] 

ich prominence; but, nnpromiaii 

tin' ' 

..nly i kind F ! from be< 

'm1 until the end, I 

;?if.'.l without t! 

Helm and Man]. in. 
the I 

I 

M.l in n 

1 
( ) ! | 

Bat 1 

1 

turning million innuallv. 






i;i»\\ \i;i» < »u\ 1:1; w i )U 1 1 1 t 



of Jose, 189S, iiit- doors of the 
i, ,,!;.,. ned, the effect was immediately feM 

throughout the Centennial State in two weeks the price 
,.f bar silver fell from elghty-tl rtj two cents per 

\i.m\ of the Largest minee In the State abruptly 
hlnit down, and moei <»f the nnelten at Denver, LeadvUle, 

and Pueblo banked their furnare*. Tli. n. iii quick sua 

mim iin- failure! of numerous business bouses and 
the closing of the banks in most of tin- cities and towns 
ighout i ■ • 8 
The panic of 1898 was on, and it was one of the most din- 
Br known to the world Distress i enera] x 
nnlv the lai.oiin- .ia»rs. luit tin- well-to-do were directlj 

i irhohadmonej In bank were unable to with- 

,li- >iu pal weeks the banking institutions which 

vnr\i\«Mi the panic refused to bonor «'\<-ii their own paper. 
ah this was political capital for Hr. Walte and bis 

following, and when on the 80th of October snee ling, Don 

gresK, which had been convened in extraordinary session by 

dent « 'leveluml, j.asM-.i iin- I.ill regaling the rital part 

of the Sherman law, the Waiteitee had material which was of 

o ili. -in. 

i irai during b mass convention In Denver In July, L8 
called by the Governor to consider general con 

• bat Mr R aite made his " bl I to the bridles " 

ton iiia.lt* his nam.' known throughout the 

[I irai only one of manj sensational atterances 

him, but It was <.f I character to to upon 

and It i phed everj s bere The l toi 

, ral Popn manj of them 

lubject tinder 

at ting down <.f the Indian mints In 

ii i, I,, e was of grave Import 

and to the < lovernor It foreboded 

. .i w nil It This Is the 

i.rtti-r. iniiiiit.i\ Im-h.t. that blood should 

Mian that out national 

■ -.I.'" 

ilature In exta 
i different subjei ts for consideration, the 



TWO SENATORIAL ill- l • UQ 

principal one <>f i iii<-h 

i -llemi 

ich |»r«»\ 

ridicule « hich aln 

iijm.ii the B unt of t be W 

i.-.l f.. r tb 
• 

omplj i ith th< 

■ arrency basis for i 
tit of the Union at large, but concurrent n 
■ 
big th€ plan rod unconstitutional. In 

connect ion, however, t ; ■ 

follow! 

W nor of th< 

h.iv bj pr 

session f( 

• •f tin.- hi . apoo tin- pcea en t ratio of Lfl 

1 "f . ;, r f,, r • 

■ 
1 

nth 

■ • 

hereby ai 

doabtfnl - 

Dome 

- 
/:- - • 

4 the 

rhirh tho - 
Bitting nuslitim f.-r the Dtee* 
that it carry out i' 
♦ in 'l : - ". «s|iinlly wir | th^ nn.noT of the 



210 EDWAKD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Constitution, the right of free and unlimited coinage at the mints 
of the United States. 

The resolutions were presented to the Senate by Mr. 
Wolcott, who in introducing them said : 

The General Assembly of the State of Colorado was called 
to meet in special session by the Governor. The reasons for 
calling it together had been stated at length by the Governor 
by proclamation, and among other reasons given was that 
the Legislature might provide that foreign silver dollars should 
be a legal tender for the payment of all debts, public and 
private, collectible within the State of Colorado. The Legis- 
lature met in pursuance to that call, and among its first acts 
was a repudiation by both branches of the General Assembly of 
either the intention or the right of the State to legislate respect- 
ing its currency. 

These resolutions are most forcibly expressed. I ask that 
the resolutions may be read as bearing testimony to the fact 
that the people of Colorado stand or fall with the laws of the 
rest of their country, and that they accept the situation, painful 
and unfair as it has been. I may add the pleasing fact that 
although the silver industry has been stricken down within the 
State, prosperity is returning within its borders and its citizens 
have found other channels of industry. 

Both Wolcott and Teller used their best efforts to bring 
the Legislature to a speedy close and to nullify Waite's in- 
fluence for foolish legislation. This was done through per- 
sonal messages to members and to the presiding officers of 
the two Houses. 

Hon. E. M. Ammons of Douglas County, himself diamet- 
rically opposed to the Waite policies, was Speaker of the 
House, and he scarcely needed the prodding he received from 
the Senators to use his influence in favor of curtailing the 
length of the session. The interest on the part of the Senators 
was manifested in a joint telegram running as follows : 

Washington, D. C, Jan. 19, 1894. 
E. M. Ammons, Speaker of the House of Representatives, 
Denver, Colo. 
We have neither the inclination nor the right to interfere in 
the slightest degree with any legislative action of the General 



TWO SENATORIAL ELECTIONS 211 

Assembly of Colorado. We are most anxious, however, that our 
State should continue to maintain her high reputation for wis- 
dom and fair dealing, and that she should not be subject to 
criticism from other sections of the country. 

Prosperity will return to us if we do nothing to drive it 
away, and we believe a favorable solution of the silver question 
will eventually be found. No party question is involved, and 
we trust the interests of the State will not be hampered by legis- 
lative mistakes. Any prolonged or continued session of the 
Assembly would in our opinion be most unwise and would only 
result in injury to Colorado. 

H. M. Teller, 
E. O. Wolcott. 

If the Waite administration had resulted in nothing more 
seriously disastrous than the calling of the extra session of 
the Legislature, the people would have had comparatively 
little to complain of. Probably the most injurious effect 
was felt in the distrust which was created. Like most new 
communities, Colorado was deeply in debt. Possessing ex- 
ceptional resources, the State was developing with rapid 
strides, and the Colorado people were making large demands 
upon their Eastern brethren for capital. When the hard 
times came the Waite party began to threaten repudiation, 
with the result that Eastern creditors became frightened and, 
as one man, rushed in to withdraw their loans. The Colo- 
radoans were unable to meet the demand. The result was 
the foreclosure of many mortgages, the placing of numerous 
attachments, and the transfer of a large proportion of the 
property of the State from one person to another for a very 
small fraction of the real value. 

The administration was also harassing in other respects. 
Of querulous and quarrelsome disposition, ignorant of the 
law and yet egotistical and self-willed, the Chief-Executive 
was constantly getting himself into trouble. His appoint- 
ments to office were disappointing to himself, as they were 
to the public generally, and on one occasion he called out 
the State militia and came near precipitating a real battle 
at the City Hall in Denver to aid him in ousting a police 
board of his own selection. At another time he ordered the 
militia to Cripple Creek for the avowed purpose of support- 



212 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

ing one side to a controversy in connection with a mining 
strike at that place. Only good fortune prevented disastrous 
consequences from these rash acts, and it may well be im- 
agined that the State was heartily glad to rid itself of their 
author when the opportunity was presented in the campaign 
of 1894. 

To Mr. Wolcott the Waite administration was a night- 
mare. Ever sensitive to the opinions of the better element 
of society, he felt that the Governor's acts were a severe 
reflection on the good name and the hitherto high credit of 
the State. Engaged as he was in making the national fight 
in behalf of silver, he found that he was greatly handicapped 
by the course of affairs at home. He was not given to use- 
less explanations, and in this case he would have found 
explanation difficult if disposed to enter upon one. All, 
therefore, that he could do was to bear the situation as best 
he might and say as little as possible about it outside of Colo- 
rado. This course he pursued, but he lost no opportunity 
and spared no effort to bring about a change in the State. 



THE SECOND SENATORIAL CAMPAIGN 

THE campaign of 1S94 resulted in the annihilation of 
Waite and in the election of a Legislature which re- 
turned Mr. Wolcott to the Senate. But the revolu- 
tion cost a great effort. It need not be supposed that, 
unpopular as Mr. Waite had become with certain classes 
and absurd as had been many of his official acts, he was 
without friends or supporters. A most vigorous campaign 
was made in his behalf, and it was only by the most strenu- 
ous effort that " the grand old anarchist," as one of his 
supporters dubbed him, was voted down and his opponent, 
A. W. Mclntire, elected. 

Mr. Wolcott's health was such that he was compelled to 
go to Europe in the spring of 1894. It therefore was im- 
possible for him to give much personal attention to this 
campaign in its early stages. The reasons for this trip were 
fully explained in a letter to his personal friend, O. E. 
Le Fevre, written at Washington on May 9th, as follows: 

I had laid all my plans to go to Colorado next month and 
remain through the meeting of the Republican League to be held 
at Denver. I find myself unexpectedly compelled to abandon 
this and all other plans I had formed for the summer. 

My condition of health is such that my physicians insist that 
I shall go abroad for treatment ; that I shall first go to Carlsbad 
and then go to Paris, where it is hoped that the surgeon who 
treated me last winter may complete a cure which proves to 
have been imperfectly accomplished at my former visit. I have 
hesitated for some time about going, but I see no alternative. 
My colleague, Senator Teller, who is familiar with all the cir- 
cumstances, also urges me to go. 

The pending tariff legislation is in control of the Democratic 
213 



214 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

majority in the Senate, which will be able to force its views 
irrespective of the wishes of the minority. I shall, of course, 
be paired, so that the vote will not be affected by my absence. 
We have made every effort before the committee to secure some 
adequate protection for both lead and wool in the pending 
measure. Lead is somewhat protected, but we have found it 
utterly impossible to secure any recognition of the great wool 
interests of our country, which will suffer seriously by the pro- 
visions of the proposed tariff bill. Outside of these two ques- 
tions there is nothing of immediate importance to Colorado, 
although we are all interested in the general question of the 
protection of American industries. I feel much more relieved 
also about going from the fact that the abilities and long ex- 
perience of my colleague, who will remain at his post, assure 
the full protection of the interests of our people. 

My business affairs as well as the interest which I naturally 
feel as a citizen in Colorado's welfare, lead me to regret ex- 
tremely my inability to be in Colorado during the early summer, 
and I regret to be compelled to abandon my visit there. I shall 
return, if all is well, in August and shall go at once to Denver. 
This will give me ample time to participate in our fall campaign. 
I am anxious not to interfere respecting any of the nominations 
upon the State ticket, and it is possible that my absence until 
August may save some misconstruction which might be placed 
upon my movements if I should go to Colorado before that time. 

My own personal interests I must leave in the hands of my 
friends. There is one question of far greater moment in my opin- 
ion than any other, that is that the State of Colorado be re- 
deemed from the Populist administration which now controls 
it and which has brought so much discredit and dishonor upon 
our commonwealth. 

To accomplish this result, harmony is required within our 
own ranks, and it is essential that personal and factional dif- 
ferences should be sacrificed, that the party as a whole may 
work together for the best interests of Colorado. I know of no 
sacrifice which I am not personally willing to make to secure 
that result. 

There were two receptions at the Brown Palace Hotel 
this year, the first non-partisan and to Mr. Wolcott alone 
when he arrived in Denver on his return from Europe, 
September 1st, and the second, later, to both Senator 
Wolcott and Senator Teller, and of a partisan character. 






TWO SENATORIAL ELECTIONS 215 

The Denver Republican of the next day gave the follow- 
ing account of the first meeting : 

The rotunda, grand staircase, and first two balconies of the 
hotel were filled with people, while the railings of the third, 
fourth, and fifth balconies were lined with faces. The edifice 
was decorated in bunting and flowers, and presented a beautiful 
appearance. Senator Wolcott and the reception committees of 
the Mining Exchange and Chamber of Commerce occupied a 
platform at the base of the staircase. Over them hung silken 
American flags. At the capitals of the onyx pillars flanking 
the platform were floral pieces, one bearing the words " Silver 
Ed," and the other a silver dollar mounted in roses. The entire 
railing of the first balcony was hidden in trailing, potted and 
cut flowers. Standards of colors grouped in threes were mounted 
at intervals on all the balconies. The effect was entrancing. 
Aside from the floral effects, the appearance of the hotel was 
enhanced by the large number of ladies present. An orchestra 
was ensconced in a floral bower on the east first balcony. Near 
them sat the Apollo Choral Association. During the reception 
these organizations rendered many pieces. Senator Wolcott was 
much moved by the warmth of the welcome. The entry of the 
guest of the evening to the hotel was denoted by ringing cheers. 

Hon. W. N. Byers, a distinguished pioneer of the State, 
was then President of the Denver Chamber of Commerce, 
and in that capacity presided over the meeting. The wel- 
coming addresses were made by Hon. Caldwell Yeaman, a 
Democrat, and Hon. Earl B. Coe, a Bepublican. Both spoke 
in non-partisan terms. Mr. Yeaman said : 

Senator Wolcott, on behalf of the Denver Chamber of Com- 
merce and the Board of Trade, as well as in obedience to my 
own inclinations, I extend to you a cordial welcome home. I 
bid you find in the affectionate regard of those whom you have 
faithfully served, in the congratulations of your friends and 
admirers, a much needed relaxation from the long continued 
official service, and, in the life-giving atmosphere of our moun- 
tains and valleys, complete and final restoration to health. 

The organization which it is my pleasant duty to represent 
is without politics and without religious creed. Among its mem- 
bers are those from all the industries and professions within 
our State; education and benevolence have a place within its 
general plan. These interests thus combined, harmoniously 



216 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

strive to promote efficient, honest, and economical government. 
The system of government under which we live imposes upon 
the national legislature duties, and confers upon it powers, the 
performance and exercise of which directly affect the welfare 
of the whole people. It is to our Senators and Representatives 
in Congress that we look for that wise and beneficient legis- 
lation which, while securing to the people the greatest possible 
return for their energy and toil, lays lightly upon them the hand 
of supreme authority and power. Fortunate are the people of 
any commonwealth who can universally commend the work of 
their public servants. These fervent congratulations to you 
show the depth of the appreciation of the people of this State, 
and the sincerity of their esteem. You need not be reminded 
of the continued devotion of the people of Colorado to silver. 
In you their zeal and devotion found a true expotent. They 
commend and applaud the advocacy of their Senators and 
Representatives. 

Mr. Yeaman then closed his address by saying that the 
people were above all petty things of life, " and party ties 
and party prejudice for this occasion are smothered in the 
cordial welcome which Colorado extends to you." 

Mr. Coe spoke as follows : 

The people of Colorado are glad to have you with them again, 
Senator. We are glad to see you with us to-night safe and on 
the way to health. Your absence from us has been marked with 
sickness, and we feared for you ; but you are with us again, and, 
I know, ready to carry on to the very last that difficult duty 
which has been imposed upon you. 

But these congratulations are not all for you. Some of them 
are for ourselves. It is for us to congratulate ourselves upon 
having in you so faithful and zealous a servant. It is for Colo- 
rado to congratulate itself that in times of peril, when the 
welfare of the State was assailed, and that in a dangerous 
manner, we had on the floor of the United States Senate two 
men who were indeed champions of our rights. 

I am sure you will pardon me, Senator, and ladies and gen- 
tlemen if I indulge myself in a few party remarks and say 
a word or two to our friends the Democrats. There is hanging 
above us a flag, with its bright stars and stripes. Every star in 
that field marks the progress of republicanism, and not a slur 
must be cast upon them or the brightness of one of them dimin- 
ished. It is for you to-day to stand by them. Party differences 



TWO SENATORIAL ELECTIONS 217 

must be buried. We must stand together and, what is more, we 
will stand together. 

Mr. Wolcott's speech will be found elsewhere. His ad- 
dress was not political in character, but it was replete with 
patriotic sentiment and full of interest in the welfare of 
the people of the State. 

The next reception occurred on the night of September 
17th, and was given by the East Capitol Hill Woman's Re- 
publican Club, and was a notable event. Mr. Wolcott was 
introduced by State Senator Charles Hartzell. A chronicler 
of the day tells us : 

The tinge of aestheticisni which has been introduced by the 
women as one of the accessories to a higher standard in politics 
was made very manifest last night in the decorations and in 
the music, both of which were of a high artistic order. Clematis 
was the principal decoration and it harmonized with the original 
adornment of the building. The arrangement of the plant was 
most artistic; it hung profusely from the first two balconies 
and at frequent points it was relieved with bunches of bright 
flowers. The American flag was picturesquely displayed in every 
part of the rotunda. The throng of people was of the greatest 
interest. The balconies to the top were filled with men and 
women. It was a solid square of humanity with the square 
rotunda at the base crowded. Many could not get inside the 
doors at all. 

In his speech at the second meeting, Mr. Wolcott dealt 
the Waite administration many heavy blows. One or two 
specimens will suffice. 

For one [he said in the beginning], I am tired of the slanders 
and abuse which is heaped upon us and telegraphed all over 
the world, defiling our own nest, abusing, vilifying, and slander- 
ing the decent men and women of Colorado, and destroying and 
ruining every decent industry which our efforts and our time 
and our people have built up and which made our State a 
glorious one in the sisterhood of States, until he [Waite] came 
with his baleful influence to destroy it. 

And further along: 

These two years of Governor Waite's administration are the 
greatest disaster this State has ever known. We used to have 
the grasshoppers and we used to think we were afflicted with 



218 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

various losses by the hand of the Almighty; but the time is 
coming when the two-year Populists will be a far worse 
plague than the seven-year locusts ever were. The time is surely 
going to come when many of the young women in the hearing 
of my voice as they hold their children on their knees, will tell 
them how, years and years ago, there was a grotesque, im- 
possible sort of an old man, a sort of opera-bouffe governor, who 
tried to destroy all the interests in Colorado and who tore 
down everything that was decent and invoked all the disorder 
and misrule he could, and how the good men and good women 
of Colorado got together and talked it over and by an over- 
whelming vote sent that opera-bouffe governor back to Aspen, 
where he belonged. And the only difficulty your children will 
have in believing the story will be in believing that you ever 
were big enough idiots and muffs to elect him. 

Much invigorated in body and greatly encouraged over 
the prospect of obtaining an international agreement in the 
interest of silver coinage, Senator Wolcott entered heartily 
into the campaign. Waiteism on the one hand and the im- 
proved outlook for the white metal on the other, were the 
uppermost themes of his discourse. He had met many of 
the bimetallists of England and on the Continent, and he had 
come to think that all had not been lost with the repeal of 
the Sherman law. Colorado still was under the pall of the 
panic of 1893, and he preached a gospel of hope and good 
cheer — of a bright and prosperous future, which he declared 
that even Waiteism could not permanently blight. Still, he 
urged the necessity of throwing off the incubus at the earli- 
est possible moment, and he labored day and night for the 
election of Mclntire and the entire Republican ticket. In 
his speech before the State Convention at the beginning of 
the campaign, he said: 

The office you have conferred upon me is the most splendid 
within your gift; the term for which I hold it has nearly ex- 
pired. What the future may have in store for me it is not 
given us to know ; but whatever personal possibilities there might 
be for me as to a continuance of its term I say to you solemnly 
I would sacrifice them all gladly in a moment, in the twinkling 
of an eye, if thereby we could render more certain the rescue 
of this State from the hands that now throttle it, and I would 



TWO SENATORIAL ELECTIONS 219 

retire cheerfully to private life, grateful for your past kindness 
and confidence, and happy that as a citizen of Colorado there 
was any sacrifice I could make that would save this State from 
further degradation and dishonor. 

It is not intended to follow our candidate through the 
ineanderings of the campaign, nor to repeat his speeches, 
which were much the same in general argument at all points. 
Probably the most notable of his addresses in the contest 
was the one delivered at its close. This was made in Denver 
on the night of the third of November, and was listened to 
by a vast audience. In it, as throughout the State, he de- 
voted much attention to the administration of Governor 
Waite, which he charged with responsibility for the most 
of the evils of the time. He asserted that but for the radical 
position of the Governor there would not have been nearly 
so many foreclosures of mortgages nor so many attachments 
as the result of suits. Speaking of the free coinage of silver, 
Mr. Wolcott declared himself as staunch an advocate of 
that cause as any man, but he repeated his declaration that 
it could not come through any individual party — no more 
through the Populist party than any other party. " When- 
ever I believe that free coinage can be accomplished through 
some other party than the Republican party I will leave that 
party," said Mr. Wolcott; "but I will never be drawn into 
the crazy ranks of the Kansas and Colorado Populists." 

The "A. P. A."— letters which stood for the American 
Protective Association— was very much in evidence at that 
time, and was a real issue in Colorado politics. The organ- 
ization was shortlived, but very active while its existence 
continued, and its principal tenet was antagonism to Cath- 
olicism. It may well be imagined that the trimming poli- 
ticians found it an awkward subject to deal with. It was 
difficult to steer between the Scylla of Catholicism and the 
Charybdis of A. P. A'ism. The A. P. A's were particuarly 
alert in Colorado in 1894, and it was charged that they had 
influenced the nomination of most of the Republican candi- 
dates. If such had been the case the ticket probably would 
have met the antagonism of members of the Catholic Church. 
Hence, while not daring to repudiate the society because such 



220 EDWAED OLIVER WOLCOTT 

a course would have offended its members, the candidates 
were at the same time anxious to assure the Catholic voters 
that they were not antagonistic to them. No one understood 
these issues better than Mr. Wolcott, and when, during this 
last address of the campaign, a question relative to the organ- 
ization was thrust at him he was prepared to respond to it, 
and he did respond on broad grounds, and in a way that 
could not have lost him the vote of any fair-minded man. 

He was in the midst of his speech when some one in the 
audience, taking advantage of a pause, yelled across the 
hall at him, "What about A. P. A'ism? " "Oh, go off!" 
responded Mr. Wolcott, informally. The questioner, how- 
ever, would not be silent, and by repeating his inquiry en- 
gaged the serious consideration of the speaker. Facing 
around, Mr. Wolcott cried back to the man, " Well, what 
about the A. P. A.? What do you want to know about it? " 

" I want to know what you think about it and what 
your relations to it are." 

Realizing that the question was intended to put him on 
record as against the Catholic Church, Mr. Wolcott directed 
his response to that point. " I believe," he said, " that every 
citizen should be allowed to worship God as he sees fit." 
Then, after a pause, he added, " I do not believe that any 
man should be allowed to disturb a decent meeting." 

That Mr. Wolcott was not overconfident of re-election 
was evidenced by a letter written to his mother, October 
25, 1894, about ten days before the election of the Legis- 
lature which did ultimately return him : 

I am working very hard [he said]. Last week I made eight 
speeches, and am out again this week, and shall be kept going 
until after election. I think I made a mistake in going in for 
re-election, but it is too late now for regrets. The result is 
still doubtful. Populism has a deep hold on people in Colorado. 
Wolhurst is delightful, but I don't see much of it. I leave by 
the early train and return after dark. 

That his pessimistic view was not justified was soon 
demonstrated by the result at the polls and not long after- 
ward in the Legislature. 



TWO SENATORIAL ELECTIONS 221 

Very soon after the election in November Mr. Wolcott 
turned his face toward Washington for the purpose of 
attending the second session of the Fifty-third Congress. 
There were many questions pending in which Colorado 
was profoundly interested, and he did not permit his 
own interests to keep him at home. Consequently, he 
was not in Colorado when the Legislature met and could 
not give personal attention to his campaign to succeed him- 
self as Senator. His presence was scarcely necessary, for 
in reality no other Republican was seriously thought of for 
the office, and the Legislature was safely Republican. The 
only other member of the party mentioned was Myron H. 
Stratton, a mining millionaire of Colorado Springs, who 
had made his money in Cripple Creek. 

In December, about two weeks before the assembling of 
the Colorado Legislature, Mr. Wolcott, then in Washington 
attending to his Senatorial duties, received a letter signed by 
every Republican member of the Legislature, men and women 
assuring him that he would be chosen to succeed himself 
without opposition and advising him that he need not con- 
cern himself about his re-election even to the extent of re- 
turning to his State. To this flattering communication 
Senator Wolcott addressed an appreciative reply. The 
correspondence was as follows: 

Denver, Colorado, 
Dec'r 12, 1894. 
To the Honorable Edward O. Wolcott : 

Sir: The undersigned Republican members and members- 
elect of the Tenth General Assembly of the State of Colo- 
rado, appreciating your services in the Senate of the United 
States, and being desirous of your re-election, beg to submit the 
following : 

For six years you have faithfully and well served this State 
in the highest legislative body in the world ; the people of Colo- 
rado, irrespective of party, should be in favor of your return 
to the Senate; you are the uuanimous choice of the party for 
this high office; the Republican party has nationally achieved 
one of its greatest and most decisive victories; its leaders will 
soon meet in Washington, when the policies and plans of the 
party for the future will be carefully considered, discussed, and 
in a large measure agreed upon; we want you at this meeting, 



222 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

so that your great influence will be there exerted in behalf of 
Colorado; we have confidence that the Republican party will 
satisfactorily solve the silver question ; we wish to relieve you 
of any possible anxiety concerning the result of the Senatorial 
election in this State, so that your entire time and best efforts 
can be given to a wise solution of the great questions that so 
much concern our people. The largest and most representative 
convention of the party that ever assembled in the State unan- 
imously approved of your conduct in the Senate in the past, 
and indorsed you for re-election. We assure you that it is a 
pleasure to each of us to obey the voice of the party as thus 
expressed, and that it will be our pleasant duty to earnestly 
aid in your re-election, and to use every honorable means to 
accomplish this result, both in caucus and in open session, and 
until the result we hope for is attained. 

Charles Hartzell, E. W. Merritt, W. B. Felker, Oscar Reuter, 
Dr. Charles E. Locke, P. J. Sours, Frances S. Klock, Louis 
Anfenger, Joseph H. Stuart, W. S. Bales, James H. Clarke, H. 
R. Brown, George W. Twombley, A. C. Wilkins, J. S. Carnahan, 
W. I. Whittier, A. M. De Bord, A. L. Humphrey, I. J. Wood- 
worth, Charles G. Collais, M. A. Vigil, John W. Lovell, A. A. 
Salazar, Nathaniel Kearney, J. R. Gordon, James F. Allee, W. 
A. Colt, Bruce F. Johnson, Amedee L. Fribourg, A. R. Kennedy, 
Clara Cressingham, W. H. Macomber, Alexander Stewart, A. I. 
Warren, W. B. Rundell, C. W. Campbell, J. T. McNeeley, J. M. 
Morris, W. L. Patchen, J. C. Evans, T. S. Harper, Robert D. 
Miller, W. N. Randall, G. W. Swink, J. W. Rockefeller, Jacob 
C. Funderburgh, Celestino Garcia, Charles Newman, Frank G. 
Blake, Joseph H. Painter, J. G. Morton, J. D. Brown, Clara 
Clyde Holly, James F. Drake, R. H. Purrington, W. R. Sopris. 



Senate Chamber, 
Washington, D. C, Dec. 18, 1894. 
Hon. Charles Hartzell and Others: 

Gentlemen : The joint letter signed by you, who constitute 
fifty-six out of the one hundred members of the next General 
Assembly, is just received. 

While it is true, as you say in your letter, that the Repub- 
lican State Convention unanimously passed resolutions indors- 
ing my re-election to the Senate, I nevertheless appreciate more 
deeply than I can express to you the friendship which has 
prompted you to give me this personal assurance of your con- 
fidence and regard. If any incentive were needed to constant 



TWO SENATORIAL ELECTIONS 223 

and unwearied devotion to the interests of our State, you have 
furnished it to me by the assurances which your letter contains. 
I accept gratefully the suggestion you make that I should re- 
main here at my post of duty for the present. Before the session 
of your assembly shall have adjourned, however, I shall, unless 
prevented, have an opportunity at Denver of meeting you and 
thanking you each in person. 

Existing conditions here do not seem favorable for the im- 
mediate remonetization of silver, and I fear there is little to 
be hoped for during the continuance of the term of the present 
Chief Executive. There is a growing conviction, however, through- 
out the world that prosperity will not return until silver is again 
restored to its place as a money metal. It is my firm con- 
viction that this result will be accomplished by legislation and I 
believe it will be accomplished soon. In assisting to secure this 
result I shall devote the years which I may spend in public 
service. There is no question in the whole world so important, 
and to have assisted, even in some small way, in its accomplish- 
ment is all the career I seek. 

Again thanking you for your letter, I am yours faithfully, 

Edward O. Wolcott. 

The Republican Legislative caucus was held on the night 
of the first of January, 1895. The two Houses first met 
separately, but the House caucus scarcely had been called 
to order when a member proposed that the Republican Sen- 
ators should be invited to sit with them and thus, as he 
said, definitely settle the Senatorial question. Half an hour 
later the Senators came in and Senator Felker, of Arapahoe, 
was called to the chair. A number of speeches were made, 
all of which were complimentary to Mr. Wolcott. These 
were followed by a motion to indorse that gentleman for 
the Senate and it was carried by a rising and unanimous 
vote. No other name was mentioned in the caucus. Sen- 
ator Felker was authorized to notify Mr. Wolcott, and he 
immediately forwarded the following telegram : 

Denver, Colo., 
January 1, 1895. 
To Senator E. O. Wolcott, 
Washington, D. C: 
The Republican members of the Tenth General Assembly in 
joint caucus assembled send you New Year's greetings. They 



224 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

have by a rising vote, just nominated you United States Senator 
to succeed yourself, and each and every member wishes his 
name appended to this telegram. 

(Signed) W. B. Felker, Chairman. 

When two w r eeks later the two Houses were called upon 
to vote for Senator, Mr. Wolcott was given the solid Repub- 
lican vote, but as he did not receive a majority in each House 
separately, it became necessary for the joint assembly to 
vote on the subject of his successorship at the next day's 
meeting. He then received the full party vote of the two 
Houses and was declared duly elected as his own successor. 
In this as in Mr. Wolcott's first election, the speech-making 
w r as confined to one House, but in this instance the speeches 
were made in the House and not in the Senate, reversing 
the previous order. 

The speech nominating Mr. Wolcott in the House of Rep- 
resentatives was delivered by Representative Sopris, of Las 
Animas County, who eulogized the subject of his remarks 
in strong terms. He said in part: 

Mr. Wolcott has grown up with this new empire, which was 
known to him in his school-days as the great American desert. 
He now boasts in eloquent language of the siren advantages of 
Colorado. His name and fame, his life and his deeds, are among 
the choicest gifts to this richly endowed young commonwealth, 
and a precious legacy for the example and inspiration of coming 
generations. But the thing which most engages us to-day is not 
the richness of his genius nor the eloquence which has no paral- 
lel in the Senate of the United States; not even the mighty in- 
fluence of his work, but the sublime reality for which he lives, 
with a vision single and true and the witness he gives to it by 
the greatness and the strength and the purity of his devotion 
to " Sixteen to One." 

Mr. Sopris took occasion in the course of his remarks 
to call attention to the fact that for the first time in Colo- 
rado the women were taking part in the election of a United 
States Senator. " Colorado recognizes their equal rights in 
every political opportunity which the State gives to man," he 
said, " and on this day the tender youth and delicate woman- 
hood are gathered here to meet their new requirements." 



TWO SENATORIAL ELECTIONS 225 

Closing, he said: 

Six years ago the young men of Colorado gathered en masse 
and declared that they would send Edward O. Wolcott to the 
United States Senate. They did it. Have they regretted the 
act? No; a thousand times, no! To-day, Mr. Speaker, let me tell 
you that the same sentiment prevails not only among the pioneers 
and the young bloods but also at the hearth-stones and in the 
homes of the mothers and the wives and the sisters of Colorado. 

In the House forty-one votes were cast for Mr. Wolcott 
and twenty-three for Hon. Lafe Pence, the Fusion representa- 
tive from the First District. In the Senate Mr. Wolcott 
received sixteen votes; Hon. Thomas M. Patterson sixteen, 
and Hon. Charles S. Thomas two. 

When on the next day the two Houses met jointly, Mr. 
Wolcott received fifty-nine votes, Mr. Pence thirty-six, and 
Mr. Thomas three. Before the vote was taken, there were 
some speeches eulogistic of all the candidates. The prin- 
cipal address on this occasion in behalf of Mr. Wolcott was 
made by Senator Charles Hartzell, of Denver, who, after 
referring to Mr. Wolcott's election in 1889, said : 

How has he kept the trust? Let us see. We have seen the 
reins of government in the hands of an Administration abso- 
lutely opposed to the interests of Colorado. We have seen our 
beautiful mountain towns laid low by the power of an Executive 
controlling a servile majority. But the silver Senators, though 
few in numbers, were a host in patriotism, in devotion to right 
and justice, and by their masterly parliamentary generalship 
warded off the evil day of the Sherman Repeal for a long time. 
Like the Spartans at the pass of Thermopylae, like Horatius at 
the bridge, stood our little band of Spartan silver Senators. 
Edward O. Wolcott has served us long and faithfully. We would 
dishonor ourselves by dishonoring him. We all remember how, 
he fought for the Plumed Knight, the friend of silver, at Minne- 
apolis. We all know how long and well and nobly he has bat- 
tled for silver and for Colorado. Mr. President, it gives me 
the greatest pleasure of my life to place in nomination the 
name of Edward O. Wolcott. 

Seconding speeches were made by a large number of Sen- 
ators and Representatives, including two ladies. The first 



226 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

of the lady speakers was Mrs. Klock, and the other, Mrs. 
Holly. Mrs. Holly called attention to the fact that Mr. Wol- 
cott had been a friend to female suffrage. Declaring him to 
be of international reputation and "a self-respecting and 
upright gentleman," she exclaimed, " Let us take no back- 
ward step ! Up, up with the oriflamme of our Bayard, satis 
peur et sans reproche, and bestow once more the well-deserved 
honor of the nomination to the Senate on Edward O. 
Wolcott ! " 

Commenting upon the election on the day after it took 
place, the Rocky Mountain News, still under the manage- 
ment of Thomas M. Patterson, who was destined six years 
afterward to be Mr. Wolcott's successor in the Senate, said : 

" Senator Wolcott is a bright and brainy man. He has 
never professed to be faultless. He is bold and daring in 
politics, finance, and all the games of life — a regular Dick 
Turpin in his own particular lines. Since a Republican had 
to be returned, no one should complain because the party 
selected its best representative member." 

Senator Wolcott was the author of the bill providing 
for the establishment of a coinage mint at Denver, and the 
bill passed the Senate the day of his second election to 
the Senate. The success of the measure was generally 
accepted as a sufficient excuse for his absence, pleased as 
his friends would have been to have him with them. The 
bill carried an appropriation of $500,000 for the building. 
The measure afterward passed the House and became a law, 
and the mint is now one of the institutions of which the 
entire State is proud. 

Apropos of Mr. Wolcott's two Senatorial contests former 
Governor Charles S. Thomas of Colorado has supplied the 
following, valuable alike as a contribution to the political 
history of the State and as a testimonial to Mr. Wolcott's 
character and ability: 

I was Chairman of the Democratic State Committee in 18S8, 
that being the occasion of his first Senatorial campaign. This 
brought me in constant touch with his work, his friends, and 
his enemies. He made an aggressive and overwhelming cam- 
paign, dominated and silenced the enemies within his own party 



TWO SENATORIAL ELECTIONS 227 

by the sheer force of intellectual power, and established himself 
as the absolute master of his organization long before the day 
of election. I perceived early in the campaign that he could be 
beaten only by the success of the Democratic party, and in- 
structed the Democratic speakers everywhere to take that posi- 
tion. The election was all one way and the Legislature was 
Republican by an unusual majority. Shortly after the campaign 
closed the late Governor Tabor came to see me, and asserted 
his ability to defeat Senator Wolcott provided he could secure 
the votes of the small Democratic minority. He asked me to 
do what I could to secure them in his behalf. I assured him 
that he had been totally misinformed as to the attitude of 
Senators and Representatives elect, and nothing but his death 
could prevent Senator Wolcott's election; that the Democratic 
members would under no circumstances take part in the nomi- 
nation of a Republican Senator, and reminded him that we had 
declared the issue before the people to be either Wolcott or a 
Democrat, and the people having decided for Wolcott we would 
not interfere, even though by such interference Wolcott should 
be defeated, unless a sufficient number of Republicans could be 
induced to unite with the Democrats in the selection of a candi- 
date of their own party to the position. Governor Tabor was 
much displeased at my frankness, but I think the result of the 
ensuing caucus must have convinced him that I was right. 

Senator Wolcott was returned for a second term in 1895. 
During the early part of the preceding year the factional dif- 
ferences in his own party threatened to retire him from public 
life. The renomination of Governor Waite, however, compelled 
the factions in that party to forget their differences for the 
time being if they would defeat Governor Waite's candidacy for 
re-election. 



From the time that he entered upon his duties in the 
Senate, March 4, 1889, until he surrendered the office twelve 
years later, Mr. Wolcott was one of the most alert members 
of that body. He participated freely in the shaping of legis- 
lation both in committee and on the floor of the Senate. He 
also spoke on most important questions under consideration, 
adding materially to his reputation as an orator and man 
of affairs. In order, however, that the continuity of the 
narrative of his active life may not be interrupted, the record 
of his Senatorial career is presented elsewhere. For the 



228 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

same reason a similar course is followed with reference to 
his official dealing with the silver question, to which he gave 
much attention both in the Senate and as a member and as 
chairman of the International Monetary Commission of 1897. 
The commission was established in the hope of bringing 
about an agreement among the leading nations for a broader 
recognition of silver as a money metal, and in the further- 
ance of this purpose Mr. Wolcott spent considerable time 
in Europe. 






' Ninety-Six and After 



229 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 

PREVIOUS to the close of his second term in the Sen- 
ate, Mr. Wolcott was uniformly triumphant in his 
campaigns. He had been defeated in battles for 
others, but never in a contest in his own behalf. From that 
time he was as uniformly unsuccessful. In 1901 he was a 
candidate to succeed himself, and in 1903 to succeed Sen- 
ator Teller, but without success on either occasion. He 
never regained his lost official footing; but his failure was 
due to generally adverse conditions, and not to any diminu- 
tion of force in himself, and had his life been spared he un- 
doubtedly would have resumed his seat in the Senate. When 
he left Denver in 1904 his leadership was re-established and 
the way was open for his election in 1907. To adopt a 
phrase not in use in his time, he would have " come back." 
Indeed, he had " come back." 

To the Eastern reader it will seem strange, but it never- 
theless is true, that Mr. Wolcott's political reverses were 
due to silver — to the opinion in Colorado that he was not 
sufficiently radical in his advocacy of the coinage of that 
metal. Notwithstanding the Populist Governor Waite had 
failed of re-election, there still lingered in the minds of the 
people much of the dissatisfaction which had made possible 
his selection in the first instance. The people of Colorado 
were silverites if not Populists, and the silver sentiment was 
so strong that it accepted none but the most direct and the 
most pronounced avowal. Favorable results were of course 
sought, but profession was demanded regardless of the pos- 
sibility of accomplishment. The cry was for " the free coin- 
age of silver at 16 to 1, regardless of any other nation," and 
the public man must subscribe to this doctrine even though 
attainment of the result seemed quite out of the question. 

231 



232 EDWAKD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Mr. Wolcott was a practical man. If a proposition did 
not appeal to him he did not accept it. After the repeal of 
the Sherman Purchasing Law, he came gradually to the con- 
clusion that no party likely to be in power would contend for 
free silver coinage in this country alone; and, advocating 
free coinage because he accepted the doctrine as a principle 
and not merely for the promotion of his political prospects, 
he decided to exercise his influence in favor of a policy which 
looked to the co-operation of the leading commercial powers 
as the only means that would re-establish the double 
monetary standard. 

Despite the position of the St. Louis convention in favor 
of the gold standard and against silver except under inter- 
national agreement, Mr. Wolcott adhered to the Republican 
party. He did not believe that free silver coinage was possible 
of achievement through either the Democratic or the Populist 
party. His State refused to concur with him in that position, 
and while he espoused the cause of Major McKinley, the 
State became so generally favorable to Mr. Bryan that in 
the election in November the Nebraska candidate received 
eighty-five per cent, of its vote. 

The years that followed were trying years for Mr. 
Wolcott. Intensely Republican in politics and proud of 
his State, he felt extremely anxious to have it again re- 
corded in the Republican column. It cannot in truth 
be said that he was inordinately fond of office-holding; 
but there were features connected with the Senatorship 
which appealed to him, and there can be no doubt that he 
would have been gratified to continue the work for which 
he had proved to be so admirably adapted. He accord- 
ingly made every effort to insure his re-election, when 
in 1901 his second term expired, and again when in 1903 
Senator Teller's term came to an end. It is probable that 
but for his death he would have stood for election again in 
1907, but when he left Colorado for the last time, in 1904, 
he had not so decided beyond recall. While, therefore, it 
may be said that from the time of his second election in 
1895 until the time of his death in 1905 he was engaged in 
a fruitless struggle to hold or regain his place, the struggle 
was not in his own interest. His personal fortunes were 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 233 

the subject of least concern to himself. His effort was for 
party rather than for self, and for principles which he held 
dearer than personal success. Believing his position to be 
correct, and firmly convinced that the welfare of the 
State would be promoted by the maintenance of that posi- 
tion, he exerted himself to that end, sparing neither time 
nor fortune. He maintained a position of undisputed leader- 
ship until 1902, when an opposing faction proved strong 
enough to divide the party and thus prevent his then prob- 
able triumph. The leadership was, however, only tempora- 
rily and only partially lost, and was rapidly regained as 
soon as he came to fully understand the situation and " get 
himself together." 

THE FIGHT OF 1896 

Scarcely had Mr. Wolcott taken his seat for the second 
term when symptoms of the approaching storm became dis- 
cernible. Up to the time of his last election he had given 
his earnest adherence to every measure that had been pro- 
posed in the interest of silver, but the white metal had not 
become the subject of such sharp party division as it then 
was. Indeed, as late as 1892 the Republican party in na- 
tional assembly had administered in its platform a sharp 
rebuke to the Democratic party for its " betrayal of silver," 
and the Colorado Senator was justified in his contention that 
his party was as much a silver party as was any other party. 
He had stood side by side with the most pronounced silver 
advocates in the advocacy of silver, and, while he had 
begun to investigate the possibilities for an international 
movement, he had maintained consistently that, if only it 
would undertake to do so, this country alone could maintain 
the parity of gold and silver at the ratio of 16 to 1. Later 
he came to have doubts on the point; and he reached the 
conclusion that, whatever the country's capabilities in this 
respect, the commercial and financial interests of the country 
would not permit the experiment to be tried. He was then 
beginning to ask himself whether, in view of these adverse 
conditions, it was worth while to continue the struggle for 
independent action, so that even before the St. Louis con- 



234 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

vention bad actually taken its position lie had decided upon 
his course, and, having reached a conclusion, after his usual 
frank manner, he lost no time in informing his constituents 
where he stood. 

The campaign of 1896 was the first in which he was 
called upon to engage after his election in 1895, and that 
was the most memorable of all his campaigns. He had per- 
mitted his friends to use his name as a candidate for the 
position of delegate to the National Convention, which was 
to be held in St. Louis in June of that year. Senator Teller 
also was a candidate, but they were not working so harmoni- 
ously together in a political way as they did when, in 1892, 
both were sent to Minneapolis to oppose Harrison's renomi- 
nation. Previous to the convention of 1896 the senior Sen- 
ator took the position that there must be a straightforward 
declaration for silver by the national platform with the im- 
plied threat of a bolt if this demand was not conceded. 
Mr. Wolcott did not go to such length. For months before 
the State convention, telegrams and letters urging him to 
stand with Teller poured in upon him in great profusion. 

That Mr. Wolcott's mental struggle was severe we may 
well imagine. He had said on more than one occasion that 
if the time ever came when he should have to decide between 
his party and silver he would cast his fortunes with the 
cause of the white metal. He realized the strength of the 
silver sentiment in his own State, and he knew that in all 
human probability his determination to remain with his 
party, in view of the prospect that it would take a position 
antagonistic to free coinage, would mean his own political 
downfall. He sympathized deeply with his people. But he 
also loved his party. Aside from silver its principles were 
his principles. Seeing no way of accomplishing anything 
for the favored metal through any other party, whatsoever 
its declarations might be, he was deeply puzzled. In this 
period of perplexity he said very little to any one. His 
manner was reserved, and it was evident that he was under- 
going a strain. Yet it is doubtful whether he ever hesitated. 
It is quite improbable that at any time he really felt inclined 
to desert his party. He, however, did deeply regret the 
necessity of breaking with old friends. 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 235 

As for his previous utterances, they gave hini little con- 
cern. They never had been unconditional and it already was 
apparent that there would be no situation that would make 
them binding. Even then he was ready to say, as he did 
say afterward, that, if the advocacy of independent silver 
coinage meant consorting with the impractical Populists, 
who had no chance of national success, and whose other de- 
mands were, in his view, beyond reason, he would not consider 
himself bound by previous declarations. " When I discov- 
ered that, to be for silver, I must be for so many things 
that I could not stand for under any circumstances, I simply 
wouldn't stay in the game,"' he said many times afterward 
in explaining his position in '96. Finding Bryan standing 
on and accepting the Populist platform, he chose to regard 
him as a Populist. He did not believe that the Democrats 
would, or that the Populists could, insure free silver. That 
was the conclusion to which he had come when he wrote the 
following letter more than two weeks in advance of the State 
convention for the selection of delegates : 

Washington, April 28, 1896. 
Irving W. Howbert, Chairman 

Republican State Committee of Colorado: 

My Dear Sir: During the past few weeks I have received 
many letters from Colorado friends on the subject of the coming 
National Republican Convention, many of them asking me if I 
desired to go as a delegate. To. avoid any possible misconcep- 
tion as to my position, I write this letter to you as chairman 
of the Republican State Central Committee. 

I prefer not to go to St. Louis as a delegate, and have care- 
fully avoided the slightest indication to anybody of any sort of 
wish to be present at the convention in that capacity. I have, 
however, an opinion on the subject of our representation at the 
convention which it seems proper that I should express to you. 

When the Republican State Convention meets in Colorado, 
May 14th, it may decline to be represented at St. Louis or it 
may select delegates. If the latter, the duty of the delegation, 
in my opinion, will be to attend the convention, make the best 
fight possible for bimetallism in the Committee on Resolutions 
and on the floor of the convention, if there shall be opportunity 
for discussion before the whole convention, and, after having 
insisted by every proper method upon the duty of the convention 



236 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

to declare in favor of the restoration of silver as a measure of 
value equally with gold, to accept the will of the majority of 
the convention, and endeavor to secure the nomination of the 
candidate most friendly to Western interests. 

There is no sacrifice I would not make to secure the re- 
monetization of silver, not because Colorado is a producer of 
silver, but because, in my opinion, prosperity will never return 
to us until bimetallism at the former ratio is re-established, and 
because the appreciating value of gold and the shrinking of 
values which necessarily follow this appreciation, must bring 
only disaster and poverty and suffering to all the people of this 
country who are not lenders of money. 

To secure the unlimited coinage of silver I would count party 
ties as nothing. At this moment, however, the situation which 
confronts us is this: Both of the two great parties are ap- 
parently opposed to free coinage by the United States. The 
Populist party favors free coinage, but only as a means to se- 
cure more currency and as a stepping-stone to unlimited paper 
money, and it unites with its free-coinage advocacy socialistic 
and paternalistic doctrines which are dangerous in tendency and 
which would be, if adopted, destructive of free institutions. I 
know of no fourth party as yet entitled to our confidence and 
support, although the wisdom of leaders whose character and 
abilities we trust may find some common ground upon which 
bimetallists, untainted with Populism, may stand. 

Under these circumstances and conditions, therefore, I desire 
to be counted as a Republican, proud of the traditions of my 
party, glorying in its achievements, and still hopeful that the 
great party, which has heretofore stood for the masses against 
the classes, may on this great economic question yet range itself 
on the side of humanity and of civilization. 

If either one of the two great parties shall declare in favor 
of the unlimited coinage of silver at our mints, existing political 
conditions in Colorado will undergo a sweeping change, and in 
this letter I speak only of the situation as it is to-day. 

There is in my opinion one event which might involve our 
country in worse disaster than gold monometallism, and only 
one, and that would be the triumph of Populism. Colorado 
suffered under the degradation and blight of Populist rule for 
two years. I believe it the duty of every good citizen to stand 
up and fight in the open against a repetition of that ruinous 
experiment. 

One thing further: Our representation is small at best. To 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 237 

have the slightest weight it should, if any delegation is sent, 
be practically unanimous in sentiment and expression. The 
occasion is not one where personal ambitions or desire for patron- 
age should influence selection. I have no doubt that the Repub- 
licans of Colorado will select delegates to the National Con- 
vention who are of a united and friendly spirit, animated by 
a common and harmonious purpose, and desirous only of se- 
curing the greatest consideration for the interests of our 
Commonwealth. 

It has seemed to me fitting and proper that the members of 
that party, whose commission I hold, should know before the 
meeting of the State convention my views as to our duty in 
respect to the National convention at St. Louis. 

This is no time for differences among our own people. I have 
faith and confidence that the way will be made clear for good 
citizens in Colorado to cast their ballots this fall without 
sacrificing their honor or their convictions. 

Yours truly, 

Edward O. Wolcott. 

The letter was received with expressions of delight by 
the press of the Eastern cities, but in Colorado the sentiment 
was of a very different character. At home its author was 
generally denounced as a traitor to the silver cause. He 
was cartooned and caricatured by every daily paper in 
Denver. The Washington Post, conservative and non- 
partisan, found only words of praise for the letter and its 
author. After quoting liberally from the document, that 
paper said: 

Brave words, wise and patriotic words! Spoken, too, under 
circumstances that make them dangerous to the speaker's per- 
sonal aspirations — at a time when his political fortunes may 
be the price of his courage and his candor. But Senator Wol- 
cott has spoken them, nevertheless, and honest and courageous 
men of every party will applaud him for them. Here, at least, 
is one who holds his country's good above all other things, and 
who does not hesitate to stake his prospects of political promotion 
on the valiant discharge of honorable duty. All hail ! 

Two weeks later Senator Teller wired Chairman How- 
bert, saying that he could not consent to be a delegate to 
St. Louis " unless silver is declared the paramount issue." 



238 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Thus the two Senators confronted each other, Teller de- 
manding a silver platform, and Wolcott, while contending 
for silver, expressing himself as willing to accept the de- 
cision of the majority of the St. Louis Convention, whatso- 
ever its attitude toward silver. Clearly, after eight years 
of most harmonious relations in the Senate, they had reached 
the parting of the ways. 

They were directly and distinctly opposed one to the 
other. If one was elected the other would not be. It was 
the first time they ever had been candidates for any place on 
different platforms, and the sensation must have been novel 
to both. Yet both were so thoroughly in earnest that it is 
doubtful whether either stopped long to think over their 
mutual opposition. And it is pleasant to recall that, bitter 
as was the strife and diametrically opposed as thej were to 
each other politically for the next few years, they did not 
permit themselves to be personally estranged. There never 
was a time when they did not greet each other cordially nor 
when each did not speak of the other in terms of respect 
and affection. There never was occasion for any other 
attitude, for both were acting on conviction. Both had 
been sincere silver men, but in a different way. With 
Teller bimetallism was almost a religion. It was paramount 
to all other questions, and he had long been cooling toward 
his party on account of it. He was willing to follow where- 
ever silver seemed to lead and to accompany any who might 
promise help. The party tie was stronger with Wolcott. 
He could not forsake Republicanism for any party's promise; 
he wanted assurance that the promise would and could be 
redeemed. 

The convention for the selection of delegates to St. Louis 
was held at Pueblo, May 14tli, and it was a Teller conven- 
tion from start to finish. All three of the State's represen- 
tatives in Congress, Senators Teller and Wolcott and 
Representative Townsend, were endorsed in general terms in 
the platform, but there was a special word of approval for 
the attitude of Mr. Teller. He alone of the delegation was 
named as a delegate to the convention, and all the other 
delegates were instructed to " accept him as their leader and 
abide by his decision." Bimetallism was declared " for the 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 239 

time being the paramount issue," even Protection being given 
a second place. 

Mr. Wolcott had foreseen this result, and he withdrew 
his name as a candidate before the naming of delegates was 
reached in the order of proceeding. His decision was an- 
nounced in a telegram to J. F. Saunders, Colorado member 
of the National Eepublican Committee, from New York 
under date of May 11th, which read: 

I am very grateful to all my good friends in Colorado for 
their unsolicited desire to send me to the National Convention 
and for their kindness to me in the past. I understand there 
is opposition to electing me as a delegate. I am too good a 
Republican to wish to create any division in my party in Colo- 
rado and am too much concerned for the success of bimetallism 
and the great principles of the Republican party to do so under 
any circumstances. I therefore decline to permit my name to 
be considered by the convention in electing delegates. 

The selection of a delegation in complete accord with 
the views of Senator Teller; the declaration of the St. Louis 
Convention for the gold standard, with a leaning toward 
international bimetallism; the withdrawal from that con- 
vention of the Colorado delegation together with about 
twenty other Western delegates because of that declaration, 
and the subsequent endorsement of the candidacy of Mr. 
Bryan for the Presidency — these are matters of history, and 
have no place here except for the purpose of showing what 
Mr. Wolcott had to contend with. 

Mr. Wolcott declined to endorse the bolt, and lost little 
time in announcing his decision to support the St. Louis 
ticket,y(ith Major William McKinley of Ohio at its head. 

Tlie campaign which followed was quite one-sided in Colo- 
rado, but not as completely so as at first it promised to be. 
A Silver Republican party was organized to hold the Re- 
publicans, and that party fused with the Democrats and 
the Populists in an electoral ticket. For a few days it looked 
as if Mr. Wolcott would have to stand practically alone in 
his advocacy of McKinley's election. It was not popular to 
avow one's self a straight Republican, and the staunchest of 
partisans hesitated to do so. Gradually they came out from 



240 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

under cover, however, and forthwith the junior Senator 
began to receive letters from all parts of the State express- 
ing admiration for his courageous stand, and assuring him 
of support in case he would undertake to lead the fight. 

Wolcott was recognized everywhere as the mainstay of 
the McKinley cause in Colorado, and he was made the ob- 
ject of the most general and most persistent attack from all 
portions of the State. Not only was he censured bitterly 
by the press, but by public speakers and private citizens. 
He received hundreds of letters demanding his resignation 
from the Senate. He was burned in effigy and many threats 
of personal injury were conveyed to him. Because of his 
adherence to his party despite its attitude toward silver, he 
was declared a " gold-bug," while he was dubbed " Cousin 
Ed " on account of his friendship for England as evinced in 
his Venezuelan speech. He was denounced in public meet- 
ings as a traitor. One assemblage in Creede adopted a 
resolution declaring that, " compared with E. O. Wolcott 
Benedict Arnold was a patriot and Judas Iscariot a saint." 

At first much disturbed, Mr. Wolcott tarried in the East 
until after the national convention had been held. When 
he arrived in Denver, he betook himself to his country resi- 
dence at Wolhurst, and there remained for several days, 
seeing only his most intimate political friends. His con- 
versation with them indicated a dejected state of mind. 
He seemed to have conceived the idea that the entire State 
had fallen away from him and that there was not left a 
sufficient number to render it worth while even to attempt 
to maintain the Republican organization. 

His steadfast political supporters and especial personal 
followers were in a better state of mind. From the first they 
maintained that a sufficient number to form a respectable 
organization could be rallied, and they already had begun 
to take steps to ascertain the standing of the Republican 
State Central Committee with a view to using that if pos- 
sible as a nucleus for an organization. Practical politicians 
that they were, they realized the great importance of having 
the party machinery behind them, and they argued that if 
the committee as such could be held in line the result would 
be greatly in their favor. With this end in view, they visited 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 241 

the committeemen in various parts of the State, and toward 
the time of its meeting were enabled to announce to Mr. 
Wolcott that the committee would not go over to Mr. Bryan 
and that it would declare in favor of its maintenance on 
Republican lines. This statement was at first received by 
him as incredible, and he refused to accept it until actual 
demonstration of the fact was made. 

" You will have to show me," he told them. 

" Very well ; we will show you," they responded. And 
they did. 

When the committee came together prior to the hold- 
ing of the conventions for the nomination of State officers, 
the paramount question was whether the organization should 
be turned over to Bryan. Many members advocated that 
course, but the work of the regulars was made evident soon 
after the body was called to order. The Bryan pro- 
pagandists were stoutly antagonized, and at last the regulars 
won, 46 to 34. 

The size of the majority was as unexpected to Mr. Wol- 
cott as it was to the opposition. He realized, of course, that 
it did not represent the sentiment of the State at large, but 
he appreciated that the result would give him an official 
standing that he could not have had if the vote had gone 
the other way. With the committee behind him he could 
reorganize the party, and he felt sure that in time it would 
regain its prestige. As his followers tell the story he took 
on new life; his manner changed; he determined that there 
should be a State convention, a Republican State ticket, and 
Presidential electors, and that a campaign should be made. 
- " Now," he said, " we have something to fight for. Engage 
headquarters and we will go to work to make the best show- 
ing we can." Leaving Wolhurst, he moved into Denver, 
'and from that time forward entered heart and soul into 
.»*fce campaign. He worked day and night and never was 
his wonderful organizing talent displayed more effectively. 
Of course the odds were tremendously against him. He was 
hooted and jeered and threatened in many places, but he 
persevered unto the end. 

In the interest of accuracy it should be stated that after- 
ward the regularity of the meeting of the committee was 



242 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

challenged by the silver wing of the party on account of 
numerous proxies, and the vote reversed. But the first 
ballot had given Mr. Wolcott the status he sought, and it 
proved the beginning point from which he went to work 
to rebuild the party — a work in which he labored patiently 
and diligently and, in the end, successfully. It proved a 
tedious process, but he never tired, and no sacrifice was too 
great for him. 

ADDRESS TO VOTERS 

He began his campaign by issuing an address to the voters 
of the State, which, bearing date of August 1st, filled two 
long columns in the Denver papers, and fairly bristled with 
the terse words and tense sentences which, when thoroughly 
aroused by a situation, he could command as few other men 
could. In this address he took the position that while silver 
was the vital question there was no chance for that metal 
in the minority Democratic party or in the hopelessly be- 
fuddled Populistic party. Declaring that Mr. Bryan had 
been nominated on a Democratic platform, " the financial 
portion of which was everything that could be desired and 
the rest of it everything that is undesirable and hostile to 
the interests of our country," he said : " I decline to stand 
upon this platform and vote for this candidate even with 
the alluring free-coinage plank; I cannot do it." He cogently 
rehearsed his support of the policy of Protection, avowed 
his respect for the Supreme Court, which had been criticised 
by the Democratic platform, and asserted his general interest 
in the maintenance of law and order, which he said would 
be subverted under the Bryan doctrine. Declaring then his 
intention to stand with his party regardless of the silver 
question, he said : " My loyalty to the party which has hon- 
ored me is entirely consistent with my loyalty to the highest 
and best interests of the State I represent in the Senate of 
the United States, and I know no reason why I should aban- 
don my party or desert its colors.'' The document is so much 
a part of the history of the time that it is given entire: 

To the Voters op the State op Colorado: 

The recent extraordinary political manifestations, and sweep- 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 243 

ing changes of party affiliations seem to render it fitting and 
desirable that I should publicly state my position in relation 
to the approaching Presidential election. The people of Colo- 
rado are entitled to know at such a juncture as this the views 
of their representatives at Washington. 

Among the greatest privileges we enjoy under republican in- 
stitutions are freedom of conscience and freedom of speech, and 
if I should hesitate on this, or on any other proper occasion, to 
declare my belief and my convictions on any public question, 
I should despise myself even more than I despise those incendiary 
newspapers and hysterical individuals who assume that threats 
and vituperation can choke the utterances of any self-respecting 
citizen in Colorado who has an opinion to express or a principle 
to declare. 

The silver question is most vital. Until silver is restored to 
its place as a money metal at the former parity, there can be 
no prosperity either in this country or in the gold-using coun- 
tries of Europe. Year by year the value of gold increases, and 
the value of agricultural products, measured in gold, declines. 
International bimetallism at the former ratio would, of course, 
be the most desirable method of restoring silver as a money 
metal, because the disturbance of values which might follow the 
inauguration of free coinage by the United States alone would be 
avoided, and the question as to the exportation or hoarding of 
gold would be eliminated. In my opinion, however, the United 
States alone could, under wise and conservative guidance — such 
guidance as should deserve and receive the confidence of all classes 
of our people — open its mints to the unlimited coinage of silver 
and successfully maintain that metal at a parity with gold, at the 
ratio of 16 to 1, independently of the other nations of the world. 
During the seven years of my public service in the Senate I 
have always held this view; my vote on all questions affecting 
the currency has been identical with that of the other Senators 
usually known as silver Senators; and while my utterances on 
the silver question may not have been as frequent or as long 
as those of others whose views I share, nevertheless my record 
on this subject is clear and consistent, and the views I hold I 
expect always to maintain. 

The financial plank of the national Republican platform is 
far from satisfactory, and those members of the party who be- 
lieve as I believe will struggle earnestly and hopefully for the 
full and complete recognition and adoption by the Republican 
party of the humane principle of bimetallism; animated by the 



244 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

belief that the party which on every other great question in- 
volving human freedom and the welfare of mankind has stood 
for all that was uplifting and ennobling, will yet realize that 
a continuance of the gold standard means only further impover- 
ishment and suffering. The platform contains, however, a most 
important statement, pledging the party to the furtherance of 
bimetallism by international agreement. To the good faith of 
this pledge, the history of the party on other questions requires 
the fullest credence; the overshadowing importance of the silver 
question makes it certain to my mind that every effort will be 
earnestly made by the Republican party to secure to this country 
the blessings of bimetallism, and it is my sincere conviction 
that silver will again be restored to its place as a money metal, 
at the old ratio and that, when this restoration comes, it will 
be accomplished through the action and efforts of the Republican 
party. 

Except on the money question, no man in Colorado who be- 
lieves in the protection of American labor and American pro- 
ducts and American industries, and who loves his country, can 
read the platform without hearty approval; and no man doubts 
that Major McKinley will bring to his high office every quality 
needed by a President of this great people. 

Mr. Bryan has been nominated for the Presidency on three 
separate platforms, by the Democratic party, the Populist party, 
and the Silver party. The last-named party— the Silver party — 
does not deserve serious consideration. Most of its members 
were present at its recent convention in St. Louis, and the 
newspapers report the convention hall as being less than half 
full. 

The Democratic party nominated Mr. Bryan upon a platform, 
the financial portion of which was everything that could be 
desired, and the rest of it everything that is, in my opinion, 
undesirable and hostile to the interests of our country. 

It declares in terms against any tariff except for revenue, and 
denounces the tariff bills enacted during the last Republican 
administration. 

It rebukes the Supreme Court of the United States. 

It declares against any changes of our tariff laws until the 
money question is settled, except such as are necessary to make 
good the deficit caused by the decision of the Supreme Court 
in the income-tax cases; and this declaration is made in the 
face of the fact that the revenues of this country are grossly 
insufficient to meet its necessary expenses, and that the deficit 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 245 

is many millions more than any estimated revenue from the 
proposed income tax. 

It denounces the profligate waste and lavish appropriation of 
recent Republican Congresses. Both the Colorado Senators have 
been members of these " recent Republican Congresses," and have 
voted for most of the appropriations. 

Above all, the platform denounces the interference of Federal 
authorities in local affairs. This plank was openly stated to be 
an attack upon the Government for sending Federal troops to 
preserve life and property during the recent railway strike in 
Chicago 

This, fellow-citizens, is the platform which was adopted unani- 
mously by that portion of the Democratic party which nominated 
Mr. Bryan, one of the platforms upon which he stands, a plat- 
form which those who vote for him must practically indorse. 
I decline to stand upon this platform and vote for this candidate, 
even with the alluring free-coinage plank. I cannot do it. I 
am a believer in protection and shall not abandon that belief. 
The Supreme Court of the United States is a pure and able 
tribunal, the highest judicial tribunal in the world; I will not 
help smirch it. The Government must be enabled to pay its 
running expenses, and whenever my vote is needed for that pur- 
pose and I fail to vote it supplies to keep it alive, I shall con- 
sider that I violate my oath as Senator. The " recent Republican 
Congresses " have been neither wasteful nor extravagant, and I 
must decline to certify to a statement I know to be untrue. 
When, some months ago, the great railway strike at Chicago 
grew beyond control, and innocent lives were being sacrificed 
and millions of dollars' worth of property was being destroyed 
by lawless men ; when the sheriff was powerless and the governor 
failed to perform his duty, the President of the United States, 
with Federal troops, under sanction of law, saved further blood- 
shed and destruction and thereby deserved the thanks of every 
man who values our liberties and believes that the rights guaran- 
teed us by the Constitution ought to be sacredly guarded against 
every form of lawlessness. 

The recent travesty at St. Louis, the Populist convention, has 
but illustrated the elements which naturally gravitate toward 
the candidacy of Mr. Bryan. Every cranky quirk, every incon- 
gruous and ludicrous and misshapen idea which the wheels in 
the brains of men could evolve, buzzed and whirled through days 
of talk, but the net result was Bryan. Government ownership 
of railroad, telegraph, and telephone lines, initiative and referen- 



246 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

dum, silver money and more money had their advocates, and 
at the end, on assurance that all who voted for Bryan would 
be equally recognized, Mr. Bryan was almost the unanimous 
choice of the convention. 

For four years in Colorado we have been fighting Populism 
and Populists; that party is as unfit now as it has ever been 
to control the welfare of this people. The party stands to-day 
just where it has always stood. I am not yet willing to march 
under its banner. 

Because, therefore, I believe that free coinage will come 
through the efforts of the Republican party, and because the 
Democratic and Populist platforms, except on the money ques- 
tion, are odious and hostile to the welfare of our country, I 
shall not cast my vote for Mr. Bryan. 

Seven years ago I was elected to the Senate by the Repub- 
lican votes of the General Assembly, and against the opposition 
of every Democrat in the two houses. My re-election met the 
united opposition of every Democrat and every Populist member 
of the General Assembly. I hold my commission from the Re- 
publican party. Many of its members, including some of its 
leaders, in the exercise of their judgment, have announced 
their intention of leaving the party. I shall stay. My loyalty 
to the party which has honored me is entirely consistent 
with my loyalty to the highest and best interests of the; 
State I represent in the Senate of the United States, and 
I know no reason why I should abandon my party or desert 
its colors. 

It is to me a source of the deepest regret that my position 
is at variance with that of many of the former members of 
the Republican party — among them many who have honored 
me with their personal friendship. I trust that time and further 
reflection and the course of events will bring us together again 
in unity of agreement. 

But whatever may result, my path of duty is plain. My 
one aspiration is for the welfare of the State in which I have 
lived for more than a quarter of a century — all the years of my 
manhood. Every interest I have is here, and Colorado will be 
my home until I am buried in its soil. The differences which 
exist are not as to the result we seek, but as to the best method 
of reaching that result. 

There is to my mind no reason why it was not as much our 
duty to vote for Weaver four years ago as for Bryan to-day. 
The Omaha platform declared for free coinage and was no more 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 247 

objectionable than the Chicago platform; and Bryan is vouched 
for by leading Populists as being " as good a Populist as lives." 
The Populists have not changed in the past four years. It is 
we who are expected to join their aggregation. Others may find 
it wise or expedient, but I won't do it. If ever the course of 
events should make it possible for me to speak from the same 
platform as Tillman or Waite or Ignatius Donnelly, in advocacy 
of the same Presidential candidate, I should know there must 
be something wrong with me. What we need in Colorado is 
less hysterics and more common-sense. We have glorious re- 
sources, yet in the infancy of their development; we are suffer- 
ing from the imposition of a mistaken financial policy, which it 
is our natural and proper desire to see overthrown as speedily 
as possible. We are one of forty-six States in the Union, each 
free and sovereign. Within our borders live about one one- 
hundred-and-fiftieth of the people of the United States. We live 
in a Republic where the majority rules. The vast majority of 
the people of the United States are honest and of high average 
intelligence, and devoted to the perpetuity of free institutions. 
Our great desire is to induce a majority of the people of the 
United States to believe as we believe. The way to the 
accomplishment of this result is not by vituperation and 
abuse. 

The press of the country, East as well as West, is largely 
responsible for the bitter sectional feeling now sought to be 
invoked. It is for us who do not own or control newspapers, 
and are not in the business of throwing mud, to remember that 
of the millions of people who will cast their ballots this fall, 
nearly all are as patriotic as we are, and, with us, equally de- 
sirous that this Republic shall live and not die. The people 
of the East are our brothers; we sprang from the same loins; 
we have a common country, a common faith, and the same dear 
flag. This gospel of hate, which is now being preached, should 
find no followers among sane men, no welcome among good 
citizens. 

We who believe in the free coinage of gold and silver at 
our mints, at the ratio heretofore existing, will secure the adop- 
tion of our views when we are able to induce the majority of 
our fellow-citizens to share our belief; when people who do not 
now agree with us shall be led to agree with us, not alone be- 
cause of our arguments on finance, but because our views on 
other great questions entitle us to public confidence and respect. 
Free coinage will never come, in my opinion, out of the jumble 



248 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

and folly of the Chicago platform, nor will it be heralded by 
the cap and bells of Populism. 

Edward Oliver Wolcott. 
Denver, August 1, 1896. 

THE CAMPAIGN 

The convention for the nomination of candidates for the 
State offices was not held until the last day of September, 
and it took place at Colorado Springs, the only city in the 
State where straight Republicanism could hope to receive 
any toleration. The convention was well attended, but its 
members were so united in support of the junior Senator 
that the work was speedily despatched. It was an orderly, 
but determined, body of men, who knew what they wanted to 
do and who lost no time in carrying their plans into practice. 
Speaking of the character of the members of the convention, 
the Colorado Springs Gazette, the only Republican paper of 
any importance in the State which had remained loyal, said : 

" It was the nicest and biggest body of men that has 
ever assembled here for convention purposes. There were 
none of the usual scenes of drinking and carousing that usu- 
ally accompany political gatherings, and this was a fact 
particularly commented on by the visitors." 

Judge George W. Allen, a State district judge in Denver, 
was named for Governor, and a full ticket was placed in 
the field. 

General Hamill was chairman of the Committee on Reso- 
lutions, and the platform reported by him and adopted by 
the convention declared the people of Colorado " irre- 
spective of party " to be favorable to the free coinage of 
silver; expressed regret at the position on the subject taken 
by the national party at St. Louis, and then voiced the con- 
fidence that " the remonetization of silver, so essential to 
the prosperity of this and of all other civilized, countries, 
will be accomplished through the efforts and under the direc- 
tion of the Republican party of this country, and through 
no other channel." Except upon the silver question, the 
convention heartily and cordially endorsed the platform of 
the party adopted at St. Louis. Senator Wolcott was 
sustained in the following plank : 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 249 

" We heartily commend and endorse the noble and fear- 
less position taken by the Honorable E. O. Wolcott in his 
splendid efforts in the interest of Americanism, Republi- 
canism, the people of the State of Colorado, and for the 
preservation of the Republican party in Colorado from 
disintegration." 

Mr. Wolcott was both temporary chairman and perma- 
nent chairman of the convention. In his speech assuming 
the first position he reviewed the issues of the campaign 
thoroughly, and took occasion to refer to a former statement 
that he would join any other great party that would de- 
clare for free silver. He confessed to that promise, and 
said in explanation : 

There are two things I must offer in explanation : In the 
first place, I did not dream that they were going to join hands 
with Populists and give us the anarchistic platform. Nor did 
I ever dream that the change would make me stand on the 
same platform with Governor Waite and General Coxey, and 
when I really came to face the possibility of leaving the dear 
old party, I would n't play ; — that 's all. I walked up to the 
trough, but I could n't drink. 

Speaking of Mr. Wolcott's speech before the convention, 
the Gazette said: 

It was the most effective speech ever delivered in the State 
of Colorado. 

It was red hot all the way through to the end, and the end 
was the finest flight of oratory founded on genuine patriotic 
feeling that the present writer ever heard. Before he reached 
the peroration, the audience had been almost uproarious in its 
applause of the many telling shots fired into the enemy's camp. 
After the first sentence, a death-like stillness came over the 
house — men and women fairly held their breath as they hung 
upon the orator's lips, and many an eye was moist. Then signs 
of a desire to express the pent-up feeling began to be evident; 
and before the last sentence had been reached the audience could 
hold in no longer, and burst forth in the most tremendous applause 
ever heard in that great auditorium. Men stood up on chairs 
and flourished their arms and threw up their hats. Women 
waved their handkerchiefs, and everybody hurrahed until he was 



250 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

tired. It was a magnificent tribute to a most splendid and in- 
spiring effort of genius. It was a scene which those who wit- 
nessed will never forget. It was an occasion of which Mr. 
Wolcott may be proud as long as he lives. 

The campaign attracted wide attention, and Mr. Wol- 
cott's course was the subject of much commendation from 
party leaders throughout the country. Occasionally also 
there was a cheering word from the Republican press, a 
specimen of which is the following from the New York 
Tribune, of October 6, 1896: 

While we are having here in the East such an easy fight that 
the campaign seems almost to run itself, with an almost certain 
prospect of a walkover in November, we must not forget that 
there are Republicans in some of the silver States who are quite 
differently situated. They are making a hard, heroic, uphill 
fight for Republicanism, with the odds heavily against them. In 
the whole political field there is to-day no finer figure than that 
of Senator Wolcott of Colorado. Deserted by his colleague and 
by so many of his old Republican friends and associates that he 
seems to be facing almost alone an overwhelming opposition, he 
is standing up for McKinley and for Republicanism with the des- 
perate courage of a forlorn hope. The magnificent energy which 
he has thrown into a desperate encounter against heavy odds, 
heightened by the gift of unusual eloquence and the wide per- 
sonal popularity due to the attractiveness of his manner and 
the evident sincerity of his convictions, recall the famous Mary- 
land statesman, Henry Winter Davis, who in similar hostile 
conditions braved an overwhelming opposition in his own State 
in the struggle for the preservation of the Union and rendered 
the greatest possible service to the cause. 

Senator Wolcott is entitled to the highest praise for the 
manly courage with which he has maintained his convictions, 
resisting the turbulent tide of Populism which has apparently 
carried Colorado off its feet, and has saved the Republican party 
of the State from utter demoralization. . . . We repeat that 
the attitude of Senator Wolcott, in making in the silver State 
of Colorado a manly stand-up fight for Republican principles 
and the integrity of the party, entitles him to something more 
than passing praise. His services, even though they may not 
prove immediately effective among his own constituents, cannot 
fail to be of ultimate benefit to the party and the cause, and 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 251 

there can be no reasonable doubt that they will receive grateful 
recognition. 

The ticket was overwhelmingly defeated, but the party 
organization was preserved and was kept in shape for future 
campaigns, when Mr. Wolcott predicted the Republican party 
would come into its own in Colorado, as ultimately it did. 

Mr. Wolcott did not make many speeches in the campaign, 
but those he did make were among the most notable of his 
career and will take rank in history with the best political 
speeches ever made in any State by any orator under trying 
circumstances. With the State hostile to him almost to the 
point of personal attack, he was notified from many quarters 
that lie would not be allowed to speak if he should visit 
the sections mentioned. Under the circumstances, he did 
not consider it worth while to make an extended tour of 
the State, but confined himself to addresses at Colorado 
Springs and Denver. The first of these was made at the 
Springs on the 16th of September, and the last in Denver 
on the 24th of October. Coming midway between these two 
was a short speech at the State Convention when it met 
at Colorado Springs, on the 30th of September. 

Except for his written address to the voters, Mr. Wol- 
cott had not been heard from since the national conventions 
previous to the first Colorado Springs speech, and intense 
interest in his movements was felt throughout the State. 
His speech had been widely advertised, and when it ap- 
peared in the newspapers was read with eagerness by the 
general public. Colorado Springs was then, as it still is, a 
city of much culture. Its population was composed very 
largely of Northern people, many of whom resided there on 
account of health, and were unmoved by local conditions. 
It always has been a centre of Republicanism, and there was 
less change there in 1890 than in any other portion of the 
State. Consequently, Mr. Wolcott chose wisely in selecting 
that city as the place for his first appearance and as the 
location of his State Convention. 

Few men have received a greater ovation than was 



252 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

awarded bira upon his arrival during the afternoon pre- 
ceding the night in which the address of September 16th 
was to be given. The city turned out almost to a man to 
greet him when his train pulled into the station, and he 
was escorted to his hotel by such a procession as the place 
never had seen. Two special trains from Denver and other 
specials from other near-by cities augmented the crowd, which 
was so large that only a small percentage could find space 
within the auditorium in which the meeting was held, not- 
withstanding it seated forty-five hundred people. In the 
parade ladies marched side by side with their husbands, and 
both men and women were greeted by immense throngs on the 
sidewalks and on the house-tops as the procession passed 
along. Mr. Wolcott was driven to the Antlers Hotel, but 
he was not allowed to disappear from sight before lifting 
his voice in a word to the throng that crowded the Plaza 
in front of that building. He spoke very briefly, but his 
words are worth quoting as indicating his method of meeting 
the attacks which were constantly being made upon him. 
He said: 

Ladies and Gentlemen: I thank you from the bottom of 
my heart for this welcome. I wish that the papers of this 
State that have been saying for the past three months that I 
am not in touch with the people of the State were here to wit- 
ness this demonstration. I have been here about three months 
and I find that I have been " touched " about as often as formerly. 
We have nothing to apologize for and nothing to explain. We 
do not propose to betray our party and we are not going to 
put up a ticket that will fuse with anybody. The most pitiable 
exhibition that has ever been seen in the State was the four or 
more sets of office-seekers who got together in Denver last week, 
ready to fuse with anybody, and seeking to fool one another 
and grab everything in sight. There was no principle in it, 
nothing but greed. The man from Judea got away with the 
baggage. Think of the Silver Republicans putting up as their 
leader, as the chief representative of their party, Simon Guggen- 
heim ! All that we have is here in Colorado. We will have 
to live here for some time yet before we come to believe that 
any ticket that has T. M. Patterson at the head of it is for 
the best interest of Colorado. If Colorado for the second time 
casts its vote for the Populist electors we shall all feel it. 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 253 

The regular speech at the Springs on this occasion 
was one of the most memorable ever made by the Senator. 
He touched upon most of the questions of the day, many 
of which were quite personal to himself, in such a manner 
as to win many admirers if he did not add to the number 
of his supporters. The speech appears entire elsewhere, and 
only two extracts will be given here. He was defiant and 
independent throughout, as witness the following from the 
first sentences: 

We have no apologies or explanations to make to anybody, 
for we have not cut loose from our moorings, or lost our bear- 
ings; we stand where we have always stood, with our faces 
toward the dawn, presenting a united front against Socialism, 
paternalism, and Populism, including Waiteisin, Pattersonism, 
Coxeyism, and Bryanism. We have not betrayed our party, nor 
do we intend to abandon its great principles. Eight bolting 
delegates could not take our consciences and our convictions with 
them out of a national convention of our party. We are not 
to be delivered over to the Democratic-Populist conglomeration 
by manifesto or otherwise; and we meet to-night to send word 
to our brothers of kindred faith with us all over the Union, that 
at the first organized party rally in Colorado, thousands, many 
thousands, of faithful Republicans assembled in El Paso County 
to declare their enthusiastic and earnest faith in Republican 
principles and their loyal devotion to McKinley and Hobart. 

And this from the body of the address : 

I am a Republican. Democratic dogmas have no charm for 
me, and it is my firm conviction that the doctrines of the Popu- 
list party are dangerous and are subversive of the interests and 
threaten the perpetuity of this republic. Believing as I do, 
therefore, I welcome the hostility of both Democrats and Popu- 
lists, if there is now any difference between them. It is in- 
finitely pleasanter to me than their approval. It has been my 
good fortune to have been twice elected to the Senate of the 
United States from Colorado. On each occasion every Democrat 
and every Populist member of the Legislature was actively and 
bitterly opposed to my election. I was not elected by Demo- 
cratic and Populist votes, and please God I never shall be. As 
long as I live I expect to combat and fight their teachings and 
their tenets, and when either of these two parties, now appar- 



254 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

ently united, shall indorse me, or approve my political course, I 
shall know it for an everlasting sign that I have betrayed and 
abandoned the party whose commission I hold. 

His speech in the Coliseum in Denver was delivered to 
an audience which in the main was in perfect accord with 
him, and when he appeared upon the platform he was re- 
ceived with tremendous applause, which continued for many 
minutes. Boldly attacking the opposition, he declared in 
the beginning that his party was not a party of fusion, and, 
referring to the numerous addresses which were being pro- 
mulgated by the Silver Republicans and Populists, he de- 
clared himself to be a Republican and again announced that 
he had no apologies to make on that account. Making the 
most that he might of the Republican declaration for inter- 
national bimetallism, he asserted that neither of the other 
parties could guarantee the free coinage of silver even if 
willing to do so. The Democratic platform was denounced 
as a menace to Republican institutions. These and many 
other reasons were given for not breaking with the Republican 
party and going over to either of the other parties which 
promised more for the white metal. Declaring himself to 
be a citizen of the Union as well as of the State, he said, 
" I charge myself with loyalty wider than the borders of 
the commonwealth in which I live." 

The Denver speech was delivered under very trying cir- 
cumstances. That city was largely hostile to Mr. Wolcott, 
and there had been an effort to confine the attendance to 
his friends. Many others, however, found their way into 
the building, and strenuous efforts were made to break 
up the meeting and turn it into a Bryan ovation. It looked 
for a time as if this plan would succeed, but, when Mr. 
Wolcott made his appearance, his magnetism was such 
that all possibilities in that direction soon vanished. Be- 
ginning his address in the midst of great confusion, he soon 
brought order out of chaos, and no man ever had a more 
attentive audience than he had for the greater portion of 
his speech. This fact was remarked on every hand, and 
the comment was common that " those who had come to 
scoff had remained to pray." Probably no better illustra- 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 255 

tion of his mastery over men was ever afforded than in 
this speech, and every incident of the occasion was re- 
membered by his followers for many years afterward as one 
of the best instances of his great power, not as an orator 
only but as a fearless and persevering man. 

At that time Mr. Wolcott was without a friend among 
the newspapers of Denver, and as a consequence the only 
accounts of the Denver meeting were written from a hostile 
point of view. There was, however, enough of news interest 
in the speech to compel a full report of its text and this was 
given, although it was accompanied by harsh denunciation 
of its author. In the report of the meeting before us, Mr. 
Wolcott is spoken of as an " excrescence " and frequently 
referred to as " Cousin Ed." In one place we are told that 
the assemblage was composed almost entirely of friends of 
Wolcott, admittance being only by card, and in another 
that the meeting came near being stampeded to Bryan. 
Again, we are assured that there was a poor attendance 
while later the reporter, forgetting himself in describing an 
anti-Wolcott demonstration, said that " the hall was too 
crowded for the Wolcott sergeant-at-arms to reach any one." 

Although probably unintentionally, this reporter has left 
a very graphic and doubtless an accurate account of one of 
Mr. Wolcott's greatest triumphs as a public speaker. He 
was intending only to explain the hostility of the crowd, 
but in accomplishing that purpose he also placed on record 
an account of the man's wonderful magnetism and complete 
mastery of such a situation as would have baffled most men. 

When Wolcott entered the hall Thomas E. McClelland, 
a Republican candidate for Congress, was addressing the 
audience, but he suspended to permit a fitting reception. 
There was a very hearty salutation. Let the reporter tell 
the remainder of the story : 

His supporters tried to keep up the shouting just a little 
too long. When the first " sag " occurred some one in the 
gallery shouted " three cheers for Bryan," and several hundreds 
responded. 

" Three cheers for Teller," were called for, and they were 
given more freely this time. 



25« EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

The Wolcott people began to get anxious as the cheering was 
taken up in the different parts of the hall. 

State Senator McNeeley, late of Custer, rose and put his 
foot in it by demanding that the supporters of Senator Teller 
be thrown out. 

In a moment there was an upturning. The people rose and 
yelled defiantly. 

The hall was too crowded for the Wolcott sergeant-at-arms 
to reach any one. There was general uproar, getting more seri- 
ous all the time on account of the McNeeley request, and the 
fear that the meeting would have to end. 

Mr. McClelland was waiting to resume his speech, but he 
was waiting in vain. At the request of Senator Wolcott he 
attempted to proceed, but the noise drowned him. The Wolcott 
boosters, in their nervousness, were really making the most of 
the confusion. 

The chairman, Mr. Cook, Greeley W. Whitford, and several 
minor lights attempted to get order, but made matters really 
worse. 

Senator Wolcott, who was chafing in his seat like a reined 
war-horse, could stand it no longer, and he bounded to the front 
and brushed the others aside. Buttoning his Prince Albert coat 
he launched forth, and had there been really an organized gath- 
ering opposed to him it might have been dangerous. But his 
" bluff " went. There was quiet. 

" If there are any persons here disposed to make a disturb- 
ance on behalf of Mr. Bryan, I want to tell them that they have 
got the right town and number, but the wrong street ; their meet- 
ing is up on Sixteenth Street," he shouted. " If any of you here 
in this audience are such it is because you have got somebody's 
money for being here, and you should go back to the saloons 
where those people found you and tell them that when you 
got down here you found an audience of ladies and gentlemen, 
and there was no room for you. Tell them this is a place of 
meeting of decent people, who respect individual opinion, and 
allow other people to have their own meeting, and we do not 
propose to tolerate the interruption of a lot of bummers and 
heelers." 

No one took offence and he went after the newspaper press 
right away. Then he spoke of the feelings of the State with 
respect to silver and his position. He insisted that the McKin- 
leyites were being shamefully treated, and some were afraid 
to let their sentiments become known. The reign of terror of 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 257 

the French Revolution had hardly anything to equal it, the junior 
Senator announced. 

As Senator Wolcott proceeded he got some of the audience 
to warm up and cheer him. But as he got to a glowing period 
some one demanded, "What's the matter with Teller?" which 
caused a damper for a time. But the Senator had his audience 
shouting when he returned to the newspapers. 

In this meeting Mr. Wolcott accomplished another won- 
derful feat. He rose above the strife of the moment to pay 
tribute to the personal worth of his colleague, Senator 
Teller. Although the two men had been members of the 
same party, they now were rival State leaders, Teller of 
the big Silver party, Wolcott of the much smaller Republi- 
can party. Notwithstanding these conditions, Mr. W r olcott 
not only recognized the honesty of his antagonist, but he 
voiced the recognition in the most public manner possible. 

He was referring to the attacks of a Denver paper upon 
himself, and for the purpose of showing that he was not 
the only object of the newspaper's hostility, he had had 
collected a number of criticisms formerly made by that paper 
of the senior Senator, and, holding them aloft, called at- 
tention to them : 

I hold in my hand [he said] typewritten copies, and they are 
not five per cent, of what I could have got from the files of 
that paper, of the most filthy and dirty and outrageous and 
lying attacks that were ever made, upon my colleague, during 
the different years he has been in public life. I won't soil my 
tongue by reading them. Those of you who have lived here 
during the past ten years have read them. They include the 
direct charge that since my colleague has been in public life, 
fighting the battle for silver in Washington, he has been an 
enemy of silver and would defeat it if he could. They charge 
him with personal dishonor and personal misconduct, and per- 
sonal dishonesty, when there never was a man of purer life 
connected with public affairs. 

No wonder so magnanimous a sentiment was cheered, 
as it was, to the echo. 

But, that justice may be done and that another instance 
of magnanimity in politics may be recorded, it should be 



258 EDWAED OLIVER WOLCOTT 

stated that the paper which was the subject of the Senator's 
condemnation printed the speech entire and gave the best 
account of the meeting that was published. 

After Mr. Wolcott's death in 1905, W. S. Boynton, of 
Colorado Springs, was quoted by the Denver Republican as 
saying : 

Senator Wolcott's speech at Colorado Springs in the cam- 
paign of 1896 was the finest thing I ever heard. It was grand. 
He espoused the cause of McKinley with all his fervor and with 
that eloquence for which he was noted pleaded against sectional- 
ism. It was the grandest speech ever made in Colorado. Sen- 
ator Wolcott practically preserved the Republican party in those 
troublous times and it was mostly due to his efforts that the 
organization was maintained in 1896, 1898, and 1900. 

Continuing its reference to the campaign, the Republi- 
can, which in the meantime had become a supporter of 
Mr. Wolcott, said: 

Practically the same thing is said of the Coliseum Hall 
speech, in Denver. Excitement ran high in the city. The Sen- 
ator declared that he had a right to speak, as well as any 
other man. He declared that he would speak, in spite of threats 
against his life. And he did. He called upon John Russell, 
then chief of police, for police protection, and a squad of patrol- 
men preserved order at the hall. In addition to this, friends 
of the Senator stationed themselves near the platform in case 
trouble arose. The Senator was at his best. He protested 
against sectionalism, he pleaded the cause of McKinley and the 
old Republican party with all the eloquence at his command 
and before he concluded he had the audience applauding to the 
echo. Here was furnished an instance of how his forensic abil- 
ity appealed to the people. Crowds flocked to hear him that 
evening and the meeting was the most largely attended of any 
in Denver during that campaign, not excepting the gathering 
which was addressed by William Jennings Bryan. 

In its review of Mr. Wolcott's life, the Denver Times bore 
similar testimony concerning the campaign of '96. It said : 

Speaking in towns and cities where he had been informed 
his life was not worth a moment's purchase, the magic eloquence 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 259 

of this gifted man stilled vast audiences of those who, although 
they hated him and the principles which he supported, could 
not remain away from the sound of his voice. Those who came 
to sneer and deride him remained spellbound, and, when the 
last word had fallen from the speaker's lips, awoke as if from 
a hypnotic sleep and found themselves applauding. Senator 
Wolcott was never so great as he was during this period. Oppo- 
sition of the most virulent kind brought out every latent ability. 

No one expected anything less than an overwhelming 
triumph for Bryan in the State, and in this respect there 
was no disappointment. Not only did the State give Bryan 
its vote by the unprecedentedly large majority of 134,882 
out of a total of 187,882 votes, but its citizens contributed 
large sums of money to the Bryan campaign fund for use 
elsewhere. 

Owing to the failure to fuse there was not such una- 
nimity on the opposition State ticket. For Governor, Alva 
Adams, Democrat, received 87,456 votes ; M. S. Bailey, Popu- 
list, 71,683, and George Allen, Republican, 24,111. The 
Legislature was largely Democratic, and Senator Teller was 
re-elected by it. 



THE CAMPAIGN OF '98 

THE campaign of 1898 was similar in many respects to 
that of 1896, and the result, as before, was against the 
Republicans. The majority, however, was far less. 
This year Henry R. Wolcott was the Republican candidate 
for Governor. He was not elected, but his vote was more 
than twice that cast for Judge Allen two years before, while 
the vote for his opponent, Hon. C. S. Thomas, of Denver, was 
94,274. The Thomas figures were about 7000 in excess of 
the vote cast for Adams in 1896, but almost 65,000 less 
than the vote for Adams and Bailey combined. Thus the 
Republican gain was very marked, and the Wolcotts received 
a most flattering endorsement. 

The State Convention was held at Denver, September 
15th, and E. O. Wolcott presided. The speech nominating 
Henry Wolcott for Governor was made by General W. A. 
Hamill, the old-time friend of the brothers. He said : 

This is a representative body and not a body of swappers 
and traders. It is the province of this body to place candidates 
before the people of Colorado for their approval, and it is 
not the province of any committee to perform your functions. 
Under the false pretence that they are the only friends of 
silver, a certain coterie of gentlemen recently assembled at Colo- 
rado Springs, some calling themselves Democrats, others Popu- 
lists, and some Silver Republicans, and by a committee that 
required some two days and three nights to reach a conclusion, 
and which was composed entirely of trading politicians of this 
State from the various parties, have presented for the suffrages 
of the people of Colorado a mongrel ticket composed of Demo- 
crats, Populists, and so-called Silver Republicans, and have pre- 

260 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 261 

sented it with the excuse that it is the only way to test what 
they call the silver issue in Colorado. 

Now, as to the silver issue in Colorado, just stop and think 
for a moment. There is not a sane man or woman within the 
boundaries of this State that is not a bimetallist. All are 
necessarily so. Self-interest alone would teach them to be so 
if nothing else did. So the question of bimetallism in Colorado 
never has been, never can be, and never will be a dead issue 
until settled. 

I am not going to criticise the men, for I believe there are 
good men and women on the patch-work ticket. But take the 
head of the ticket. That gentleman four years ago was making 
special efforts to beat the Populist party in this State. How 
can he with decency and honor and manhood ask any consistent 
Populist to support him? I have known the head of that ticket 
for over twenty years as a bitter partisan politician. I am 
speaking of him politically and not as to his private character. 
The burden of all his creeds has been that all the ills that 
flesh is heir to are brought about by the Republican party. 
How can he ask any Republican to support him, whether Silver 
Republican or otherwise? 

The man whose name I shall submit to you is a bimetallist 
in the broadest and noblest sense of the word. I had the pleas- 
ure of his acquaintance many years ago. He was then engaged 
as a practical — mark the word — miner in the old county of 
Gilpin, and has brought his earnings year by year and his splen- 
did business ability to the development of the gold and silver 
mines of this State. His name is well and favorably known in 
golden Boulder, in the silvery San Juan, in Gilpin, and Clear 
Creek and Cripple Creek and Ouray, and all other mining dis- 
tricts. His form is familiar on the streets of every mining 
camp in this State, and his name is a household word in every 
miner's camp. No man in distress, no woman in adversity, no 
rising young fellow wanting a helping hand has ever applied 
to him in vain. He has brought to this State millions of dol- 
lars to develop the mining resources. He has built monument 
after monument on your streets, such as the Boston building 
and the Equitable building with money he was mainly instru- 
mental in raising. 

Such a man you can take to your hearts and support at the 
polls, as I know he has supported the State. I submit the name 
of Mr. Henry R. Wolcott as candidate for the position of 
Governor. 



262 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

For a time during this campaign Hon. Simon Guggen- 
heim of the wealthy New York family of this name, who 
afterward was elected by the Colorado Legislature to the 
United States Senate as a Republican, was a candidate for 
Governor. He was nominated by a branch of the Silver 
Republican organization, but he withdrew from the contest 
and many of his followers became supporters of Mr. 
Wolcott. 

There was a slight effort on the part of some delegates 
to the regular convention to have the nomination of Mr. 
Guggenheim endorsed, but it was not pressed and Mr. Wol- 
cott was nominated by acclamation. 

The opposition was by no means as harmonious as were 
the Republicans, and while in the end complete fusion was 
effected, it only came after much wrangling and contention. 

Again Senator Wolcott was the subject of all attacks,, 
" the storm centre," as he described himself. He was made 
the object of much vituperation by the newspapers of the 
State. There was, however, a noticeable softening of general 
public feeling. 

The Wolcott brothers stumped the State together, and 
were received cordially wherever they went. Again this year 
Senator Wolcott made his two principal speeches in Denver 
and Colorado Springs. In those addresses he gave an ac- 
count of his mission to Europe in the interest of bimetal- 
lism, and he again placed on record the prediction that 
ultimately through the efforts of the Republican party 
silver would be restored to its old place as a money metal. 
In a sense Mr. Wolcott was embarrassed by the candidacy 
of his brother. There was evident a constant desire to 
praise him, but he was more restrained from motives of 
delicacy than he would have been if there had been no bond 
of kinship between them. He did, however, assure the peo- 
ple that if elected Henry would serve them faithfully and 
well. 

Henry Wolcott made only short speeches, explaining that 
he had entered into a contract with his brother that the 
latter should do " all the speaking for the pair." Henry's 
continuing popularity in the State was attested in this cam- 
paign; his every appearance was a signal for prolonged 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 263 

cheers. At Colorado Springs he took notice of a report 
which was in general circulation to the effect that he was 
a " sacrificial candidate " and that he had accepted the nomi- 
nation for Governor with no hope of being elected, but for 
the purpose of assisting to prepare the way for his brother's 
re-election to the Senate two years from that time. 

The papers are trying to make it appear [he said] that 
I do not expect to be elected; that I have been nominated 
to be defeated, in order that I may, in some mysterious manner, 
which I must confess I am too dense to understand, elect some 
other person to some position in some other year in the dim 
future. I understand that one of the candidates for governor 
has withdrawn. The candidate of the Democracy may with- 
draw, but I shall be in this race until the 8th of November and 
I confidently expect on that day that every one on the Republican 
ticket will be elected. 

He made his longest speech at a monster meeting held 
in Denver on the evening of November 3d, a few days before 
the election, when he said : 

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: I ought to feel en- 
tirely at home in any meeting of the citizens of Denver, for I 
have spent twenty years of the thirty years I have lived in 
the State as a resident of Denver, and I have the pleasure of 
personal acquaintance with a majority of the people composing 
this vast audience. But somehow, I would rather talk to a 
few of you at a time than to address you now from this plat- 
form. Those who know me best would be the most astonished 
if I were to attempt to make a speech and I shall not disappoint 
you. 

But even if I were inclined to, I should restrain myself 
to-night, for abler speakers will present the issues of the cam- 
paign. Besides, I have learned some wisdom from my opponent 
who must these days have been wishing he never had made 
speeches and that he had never written letters, and never sub- 
mitted to interviews for publication. 

Fellow-citizens, I am here because I am a Republican, and 
I have received the endorsement of every wing and branch of 
the party which in any decency is entitled to the use of the 
name Republican, as its candidate for governor. 

I am very weary of the old lie which has been told, and 



264 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

which is repeated now from day to day, that the Republican 
party is opposed to silver. We are told that those who do 
not vote the fusion ticket are the enemies and the foes of the 
white metal. 

Is it fair to say that because a Prohibitionist who believes 
in the principles of his party votes that ticket, he is there- 
fore an enemy of silver? Our different religious organizations 
have different views as to which is the true road which 
leads to Heaven, but they are all trying to get there. They are 
all striving to reach the same gate when all is done. The ways 
are many, but the end is one. And so it is with every one 
in Colorado. No one can be more interested in silver than I 
am, or in enhancing the value of silver, for the greatest pros- 
perity I ever had in this State has come through my interest in 
silver mining. 

What Colorado needs is increased prosperity. We need 
greater activity in our mines and in our works. Our manufac- 
tures are to be built up. Business is to be improved in every 
direction, and this can be accomplished, in my judgment, only 
through the Republican party. It is through that party alone 
that we can ever expect to see silver restored to the position 
which it must sooner or later again occupy as a money metal 
the world over. 

It seems to me that the time has come for us to take the 
position that hereafter we will support this government in every 
good measure which is calculated to advance the welfare and 
the best interests of the entire country; that the time has come 
for us to take the position that while we are residents of Colo- 
rado we are, over and above and beyond all, loyal and patriotic 
citizens of the United States. 

It has been my intention to make no pledges or promises 
during this campaign, and so far I have made none. I have 
declined to answer letters which have been addressed to me, 
and which were calculated to forestall legislation and to com- 
mit me to some certain action on matters which will come before 
the Legislature, and I have treated all alike, no matter how 
much or how little sympathy I may have had with them. 

But it seems to me it is fair and right for me to say to 
you, citizens of Denver, in no uncertain terms, that I am for- 
ever and unequivocally in favor of home rule for our city. 
I believe that good and true men can be found, I would 
almost say alike regardless of their party, who can give their 
time to the upbuilding and the improvement of our city, to the 




Henry R. Wolcott. 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 265 

advancement of its material welfare, and that they should be 
allowed to do so without the interference of any outside person. 
Fellow-citizens, if I am elected as executive of this great 
commonwealth on Tuesday next, as I now confidently believe I 
shall be, I must remember that I have predicted here to-night 
that the success of the Republican ticket means the return of 
prosperity to this State. I must remember that I have promised 
you, as I do now, that I shall give my undivided time to con- 
ducting the affairs of the State, so far as they are under my 
control, upon strictly business principles. I must remember that 
my own good name is at stake and my reputation as well; that 
I expect to live, so long as God gives me life, among the citizens 
of Denver, and it shall be my ambition so to conduct the affairs 
of the office that when I shall retire you and I and friend and 
foe alike shall feel I did my level best. 



THE BIG FIGHT OF 1900 

WHILE the result of the campaign of 1898 had been 
disappointing, the work done in the interest of the 
Republican party was of such a thorough character 
that immediately after the election many recalcitrants an- 
nounced that henceforth they would be found voting with the 
old party. So pronounced was the trend of sentiment that 
loug before the opening of the contest in the fall of 1900 hope 
of success ran strong among Republican leaders, and there 
was a general disposition to " get together and stay together " 
in the interest of party success. Not only were the party men 
of Colorado in high spirits, but Republicans throughout the 
country who had watched the valiant struggles of the loyal 
partisans since 1896 had become interested and were looking 
forward to the fall election in Colorado as an event which 
was sure to bring victory and insure reward for faithful 
services. But another disappointment was in store for them. 
Mr. Wolcott was not among those who were deceived. 
He knew conditions better than most of his followers, and 
while he appreciated that the movement in favor of Repub- 
licanism had received a decided impetus, he was appre- 
hensive from the beginning. Even then, he figured more 
on 1902 than on 1900, and as early as January, 1900, we 
find him discussing the chances two years forward quite 
as much as those of that time. Still, he entered heartily 
into all preparations for the immediate work, assumed a 
hopeful air, and maintained active control of the party in 
the State. He manifested especial interest in getting back- 
sliders into the fold again, and, as we shall see, was in- 
strumental in having the doors thrown wide open for their 
readmission. He advised that no question should be asked 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 267 

and that they should be taken in on mere " profession of 
faith." 

As indicating his state of mind the following from an 
interview in the Denver Republican of March 5, 1900, is 
quoted : 

" It is of infinitely more importance that Colorado again 
take her place among the Republican States of the Union 
than it is that I or any other specified individual should 
represent her in the Senate; and my personal aspirations 
should be counted as nothing if they stood in the way of 
that result." 

Speaking of the outlook in the State, Mr. Wolcott said : 

" I think it clearly possible that the State will be car- 
ried for the Republican ticket this fall if those voters 
in the State who formerly belonged to the party and have 
no sympathy with Democracy and are at heart tired of 
Bryan ism will come back into the ranks and work as in 
former days for the success of our ticket and for Republican 
principles." 

Frequently during the preparation for this campaign he 
urged the readmission on liberal terms of those who had 
deserted in '96, and to this end he sought to influence his 
fellow-Republicans through private conferences and by letter 
as well as by means of published interviews. Success at 
the polls, with a friendly Legislature as one of the results, 
meant not only his own triumph and complete vindication, 
but, better still to his view, the restoration of Colorado 
to its old position before the world as an intelligent and 
progressive commonwealth. Moreover, he always had con- 
ceded integrity of purpose, if not justification, to the Re- 
publicans who had deserted the party because of the silver 
question. Appreciating the importance of that question to 
the State, he had regretted without resenting their falling 
away. He knew most of them to be Republican at heart 
on all but the money issue, and he wanted them back in 
the fold. He knew success to be impossible without them, 
and he pleaded zealously for the utmost inducement for their 
return. With such inducement he considered it possible 
that a sufficient number would come back to make a vastly 
improved showing. 



268 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Nor was he especially sanguine in his own interest over 
the prospects of 1902, for he foresaw the strife in his party, 
which in the end actually prevented his return to the Sen- 
ate after a lapse of two years. In view of what actually 
happened the following letter of January 14, 1900, to his 
confidential secretary, Mr. C. A. Chisholm, is entitled to be 
ranked as prophecy: 

I do not think I shall be able to make the Senate in two 
years from now. If I thought I could, I should at once arrange 
for my constant presence in Colorado until that time. There 
is serious doubt about our ability to carry the State in two 
years, and, naturally enough, there is a growing opposition to 
me in my own party which will be serious in two years if we 
have a chance of success. The latter I could probably overcome, 
but it is another obstacle, and it means a harder fight and 
more expenditure, and I doubt if it is worth while. 

The year 1900 was an important one in Colorado politics. 
It was the last year of Senator Wolcott's second term and 
of President McKinley's first. Mr. Wolcott or his successor 
must be elected by the Legislature to be chosen in November, 
and that election, broadened so as to include the entire 
country, was to decide whether McKinley should con- 
tinue to preside over the destinies of the nation or give 
way to some one else. But many interesting events were 
to occur before these results could be accomplished. To 
say nothing of the nation at large, there must be two State 
conventions in Colorado, a stirring State campaign, and a 
meeting of the State Legislature. In addition, it was in 
store that at the first of the State conventions Senator Wol- 
cott was to be chosen the head of the delegation to the 
national convention, at which Mr. McKinley was to be re- 
nominated and over which Mr. Wolcott was to preside as 
temporary chairman. 

The national gathering was held in Philadelphia, and 
the Colorado delegation was composed entirely of Mr. W T ol- 
cott's friends, many of them men who had opposed him in 
the campaigns of 1896 and 1898. 

As going to show the spirit that prevailed in 1900 among 
many who had left the party in 1896 and were now finding 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 269 

their way back, the following is cited from an account, prob- 
ably " more truth than the truth," of a meeting of members of 
the State Central Committee, held early in the year to de- 
cide upon a date for the formal meeting of the committee. 
It is quoted from the Denver Republican, which paper also 
was beginning to manifest a disposition to return to the 
party of its former allegiance : 

Marshal Bailey presided, and the cigars were passed — good 
cigars that gave pleasant feeling to the olfactories and filled all 
the air with perfume. 

It 's like livin' again after bein' dead," said the ornate Jared 
L. Brush, erstwhile Lieutenant-Governor, and just then Charles 
Brickenstein came in and Mr. Brush made a rush for him. 

" I want to congratulate you, Charley," said he, " on your 
return to the Grand Old Party." 

" I had to do it," added the prodigal, " to keep him from 
doin' it to me." 

" I would like to know," said the stranger within their gates, 
" if anybody has any sort of a kick against Eddy — pardon me 
— I refer to Senator E. O. Wolcott. Now 's your chance, you 
know. Here 's a minute in which you wear no man's collar. 
Before Edward gets a ring in your nose, speak up." 

" Nitty, nitty, nit," spoke up the faithful. " Ed 's all right. 
He represents McKinley, and McKinley stands for prosperity, 
and prosperity means about everything we want." 

" Good ! " said A. B. Seaman, coming in, the door having 
been prudently left off its hinges. " That 's the way to talk it. 
Ed 's all right. Where would Colorado be now if it had n't 
been for Ed Wolcott?" 

" There 's nobody dissatisfied with Ed except those who want 
his place," said State Senator Bromley. 

Of course the story is exaggerated, but it serves the pur- 
pose of showing how pleased leading members of the party 
w r ere to find the way open for the resumption of former 
affiliations. Many of the rank and file manifested the same 
exuberance without getting any of the cigars. 

From the beginning of the preparation for the fight, as 
early as January, Mr. Wolcott took the position that not 
his success but the party's should be the end to be sought. 
This was his attitude in his private letters as in his public 



270 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

utterances, and be lost no opportunity to impress his views 
upon his friends. Confessing frankly his own ambition 
but declaring that it ever should be subordinate to the 
party welfare, he strenuously urged the most liberal treat- 
ment of the returning members of the party. He wrote 
freely to his private secretary, C. A. Chisholm, on this, as 
on all other points. The most elaborate of his letters to 
that gentleman was dated at Washington, January 15th, 
and it is of such importance as going to show Mr. 
Wolcott's genuine and unselfish interest in his party as to 
justify its publication entire. It follows: 

I am clearly of the opinion that the wise and politic thing 
for us to do is to grant immediately every request that has 
been made respecting primaries, etc., and any other concessions 
that occur to us. Under no circumstances ought there to be a 
hostile speech made by anybody, or any single act committed 
by us that may create schism in our party ranks. 

What we want is success, and we must have it by votes. It 
is undoubtedly true that certain corporation influences are at 
work with a desire to control our organization. It is absurd, 
however, to think that all the people who are joining with 
the opposition are cognizant of this motive. Ninety -five per 
cent, of them are men who will vote with us on any fair propo- 
sition, and we do not want anything that is not fair. 

I have no sympathy with the feeling that it is a surrender 
under fire. Suppose it is; — nothing is hurt but our pride, and 
that will not count for anything in view of possible success. I 
do not mean myself that this factionalism shall be carried any 
further with any support of mine, and I would rather lose all 
we have built on in the past, and all the excellent work that 
there has ever been done to keep the party alive, than invite 
defeat now by a factional fight. 

The real motive of these people is this : 

They have been Silver Republicans, and they are ready to 
come back. They don't propose to come back on terms; they 
propose to come back, if at all, and have just as much to say as 
people who stayed with the party when they have opposed it. 
Why not let them come back in this way? What do we care 
provided we are successful? 

The truth is that within five days after we have opened the 
doors wide and let everybody come back, and given everybody 
a chance to steal the organization who wants it, matters will 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTEK 271 

settle down, and in the future, as in the past, the cleverest men 
will control our organization, and I hope control it for good. 

I realize what this means. I know that friends, who have 
submitted to abuse and suspicion and all sorts of indignity, 
don't like to give up the fruit of our labors. Don't let that 
stand in our way. If it defeats any possibility of my success 
two years from now, I shall be content, provided we have brought 
the State back to Republicanism. 

It is certainly true that if a fight is conducted in the party 
there will be no chance of success this year, or chance of success 
two years from now. 

If I had my own way I should to-morrow, in the most public 
fashion, give notice of every possible concession that could be 
made, and I should have no strings to it. Our friends will 
naturally keep the State organization, but, if they don't, all 
you can say is we are out of luck and are fairly beaten, and 
I do not want us to keep the organization if we are not entitled 
to it. 

It has not been easy for me to reach this conclusion. My 
instinct is to say that those of us who have endured contumely 
and contempt and hatred, and at a personal risk kept the party 
alive, ought not now to turn it over to those people who but 
a year or so ago were seeking to destroy it. I have passed that 
stage, however, and I would like myself to see every possible 
concession made, whether it has been asked for or not. 

Two years from now is a long way off. By that time I 
believe the party will be again triumphant, provided there is 
an open door for everybody who wants to come in. It may 
defeat me; it might even re-elect Teller. He will have to be 
re-elected as a Republican, however, and it does not make any 
difference if he is the man, provided the State is redeemed. 

Personally, of course, I am ambitious, as every man is who 
takes an active interest in politics, and I should be gratified 
beyond measure if I could be re-elected to the Senate this fall, 
or two years from now. I cannot be re-elected, however, with 
hundreds of good Republicans fighting us. And if we get the 
party together our action now may defeat me, but it is a great 
deal better that I should be defeated than that the State should 
be torn by faction and the party kept disunited. 

In similar vein was the statement made through the 
Denver Republican of March 5th, in which Mr. Wolcott 
further said: 



272 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

The Republican party in Colorado is not a close corporation; 
it is under nobody's dictation, nor is it under the management 
or control of any man or set of men. There is but one test of 
Republicanism and it applies equally to everybody in the State. 
That test is that the person desiring to vote at a Republican 
primary or to be a member of a Republican convention, should 
be in truth and in fact a Republican, believing in the principles 
of the party and earnestly and unqualifiedly desiring its success. 
Any man or woman in Colorado who is a voter and intends to 
work and act hereafter with the Republican party is equally 
entitled to participate in every step which the party may take, 
whether it be at the primaries or in convention, and I know of 
nothing which would justify any other construction. 

I feel bound to say that I have never heard of anybody in 
Colorado who holds any other view of this question. Whether 
anybody at some former election may have voted for some other 
ticket is a matter of no importance whatever, provided there is a 
complete and full return to the Republican party. It is of vital 
importance, however, that the existence of the Republican party 
in our State shall be for the purpose of keeping alive and burn- 
ing the lamp of the Republican faith, and that the organization 
should not be used, or sought to be used, as an appendage for 
any organization, corporate or otherwise, or any individual. I 
have heard some fears expressed in certain sections of the State 
that this motive prompted a desire in certain quarters to secure 
a leading voice in the affairs of the party. I do not believe, 
however, that this fear is well founded. 

With the same end in view, that of permitting the easy 
return of backsliding Republicans, another letter was writ- 
ten to Mr. Chisholm on April 8th. At that date the State 
Central Committee had held its meeting, had called the State 
convention, and had taken the precaution of appointing in 
advance a Committee on Credentials. Mr. Chisholm had 
notified him of these proceedings, and his letter was in reply 
to this notification. In it Mr. Wolcott said : 

I have just received an account of the proceedings of the 
Republican State Central Committee. 

I confess I cannot at this distance understand what earthly 
object there could have been in the appointment of this com- 
mittee to pass upon credentials. Any sort of unusual obstacle 
placed in the way of the traditional freedom of conventions or 
committees is absolutely certain to bring the organization num- 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 273 

berless enemies, and is equally certain to be indignantly swept 
aside sooner or later. 

I have no sort of sympathy with any such action, and I 
cannot for the life of me understand why we do not graciously 
and freely open the party and its organization to everybody. 
Personally, I am not in the slightest degree afraid of the result. 
If by any machination the Republican organization shall be 
turned against me, I am content to go into private life, but 
I am not in the slightest degree afraid of that result. After 
all, the wishes of the overwhelming majority of the Republicans 
are certain to be followed in State politics, and if I cease 
to be the choice of the great majority of the party then I want 
to quit. 

I suppose it may be too late to undo what has been done, 
but I write this line to express my sincere and deep regret 
that, when, after the organization had secured friends by certain 
concessions, they seem to have invited a still deeper hostility and 
bitterness by their unnecessary restrictions upon a course which 
has been followed for a generation. I would give a great deal 
if it had not been done. The only reason, so far as I can see, 
is to create an impression throughout the State that there was 
some sort of conspiracy to injure me, which it was necessary 
to defeat by unusual and arbitrary methods. As a matter of 
fact, this is not true, but the appointment of this committee to 
pass upon credentials invites anybody who is discontented to 
join in a movement to overthrow the organization. 

THE NATIONAL CONVENTION 

While, when chosen, the delegation to the Philadelphia 
convention proved in every way satisfactory to Mr. Wol- 
cott, he refrained from all advance efforts to influence its 
personnel. Writing to Hon. A. B. Seaman, chairman of 
the State Committee, as early as January 11th, he said with 
reference to this subject: 

I have not had, nor expressed, any preference as to the make- 
up of the delegation. In fact, not one person has mentioned 
the subject to me from a personal point of view, or as indicat- 
ing a desire to be present. It is important that the delegation, 
when selected, shall be representative Republicans, fairly ap- 
portioned throughout the State, and should be comprised of 
men who intend to stay with the convention to the close of 
its deliberations. I have no doubt that the convention, when 



274 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

it meets, will be animated solely by the desire to get represen- 
tative men, devoted to the principles of the Republican party, 
and disassociated with any other interest. 

He expressed himself similarly to the newspapers. In 
an interview given out about the same time that the letter 
was written, he said he would refrain from attempting to 
name the members of the delegation. " I have only one de- 
sire respecting the delegates," he said, " and that desire is 
one which is shared by every true Republican in the State. 
It is that we shall be represented at Philadelphia by intel- 
ligent representative Republicans, devoted to the welfare of 
the party and loyally desirous of aiding in its success." 
The same sentiment was expressed a day or two before the 
meeting of the convention, when he said: 

I know of no slate, and I have no desire to interfere in the 
slightest degree with the will of the convention. I know the 
convention will send good men to the national convention at 
Philadelphia next month, and I hope the choice will be exer- 
cised among people who are to-day for Republican success, no 
matter what were their views four years ago. I would like to 
see a delegation of representative business men go to that 
convention. 

By the time the State convention met there had come 
to be considerable discussion of the Colorado Senator's avail- 
ability as a Vice-Presidential candidate. Starting in Colo- 
rado, his " boom " had been favorably received by many of 
the Eastern press and by some of the party chiefs. The one 
circumstance urged against him was his location. There 
was no doubt on any hand of President McKinley's renomi- 
nation. Though improperly so since the recent great de- 
velopment of the Rocky Mountain and Pacific Coast regions, 
Ohio, which State was McKinley's home, was then classed, 
as it still is, as a Western State, and there was a gen- 
eral feeling that if the Presidency should go West the East 
must have the Vice-Presidency. The second place was, as 
usual under such conditions, practically conceded to New 
York if that State should ask it, and Governor Roosevelt's 
name was more frequently mentioned than any other. 

There was, however, sufficient discussion of Mr. Wolcott 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 275 

in connection with the office to justify the interviewer in 
quizzing the Senator about it. Accordingly when he reached 
Denver early in May to attend the State convention, he was 
asked about the Vice-Presidency. To one reporter he said : 

I feel very much flattered, of course, by the mention that 
my name has received in certain quarters as a candidate for 
the Vice-Presidency. To this I can say only that I have en- 
joyed my twelve years in the Senate immensely, and the 
next best thing to a place in the Senate, in my opinion, is to 
be a citizen of Colorado and to live at Wolhurst, and as I have 
one or the other hope before me, I am quite content without 
the further honor. 

To the questions of another interviewer he responded : 

" It certainly is to be considered a very great honor to 
receive a nomination for Vice-President of the United States, 
but I am not a candidate, nor do I desire the nomination. 
It is my impression that it is likely to go to the far East," 

The State meeting was a Wolcott convention throughout. 
Every wish was granted as soon as it was expressed, and 
while he did not seek to control the selection of delegates, 
those chosen were known to be in perfect accord with him. 
Mr. Wolcott was made chairman, and his associates were: 
David H. Moffat, of Denver; W. S. Stratton, of Colorado 
Springs; D. R. C. Brown, of Aspen; H. E. Churchill, of 
Greeley ; Earl B. Coe, of Denver ; Crawford Hill, of Denver ; 
and Ben W. Ritter, of Durango. 

On his return to Washington after the State convention, 
Mr. Wolcott gave to President McKinley and to his col- 
leagues in Congress a faithful description of the existing 
political situation in his State. If the picture that the Sen- 
ator drew was not highly colored, it was cheerful, and out 
of it grew the report that he was authority for the state- 
ment that Colorado was certain to go Republican in 1900. 
The Senator did not make such a prediction at that time, 
and from an authorized interview with him printed later it 
appears that what he did say was merely that Colorado was 
surely going back into the Republican party. He did not 
say when the change would take place, but expressed con- 



276 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

fidence that the signs of a general desertion of Populism and 
a return to Republicanism were unmistakable. 

His real view of the situation is given in a sentence in 
a letter written to a sister immediately after his arrival in 
Washington from Denver. The letter is brief and is worth 
quoting entire: 

On my desk in my committee-room at the Senate, there lies 
an unfinished letter to you, commenced long ago, added to once 
or twice, but interrupted and never finished. I don't seem to 
accomplish much of anything in this world, but somehow there 
is always at hand some instant thing that demands attention. 

My trip to Colorado was very hurried. I was gone eight 
nights and spent six of them in sleeping-cars. There is a great 
change in political sentiment there, but it is not enough to 
bring success this fall, and after next March I shall have abund- 
ant time for the enjoyment of Wolhurst. 

For the time I am busy every spare moment trying to get 
up a speech for Philadelphia, where I am to preside as Tem- 
porary Chairman. It is n't quite easy, but I shall do the best 
I can with it. 

Did n't seem to " accomplish anything " ! The average 
man who had just come from the absolute control of a State 
convention of his party, and who was preparing an address 
to be made as the presiding officer of a national convention, 
would have considered himself as doing " something," not to 
mention the fact that he was conducting a private business 
of magnitude, running the political affairs of a big State, 
and attending to the exacting duties of a United States 
Senator. 

At Philadelphia, Senator Wolcott was highly popular. 
He had been asked to preside over the opening sessions of 
the national meeting, and he was expected to sound the 
keynote of the coming campaign — McKinley's second, and 
a most important one, because it would be necessary for 
the party to give an account of its conduct of the war with 
Spain and to explain its policy toward the new territory 
that had been so suddenly acquired as a result of the war. 
How well he performed the task his speech itself explains. 
It was received with every indication of favor. 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 277 

President McKinley, to whom of course it had been sub- 
mitted before its delivery, was so pleased with the address 
that he requested that all other speeches of the convention 
be patterned after it. Secretary Hay wrote Mr. Wolcott 
after the convention : 

" I knew it would be a great speech, but it is finer 
even than I looked for — which shows that your capacity 
is stronger than my imagination. I congratulate you with 
all my heart. The whole country is your debtor." 

In the course of an address of his own delivered at a 
later stage in the same convention, Senator Chauncey M. 
Depew said of Mr. Wolcott and his speech : 

You from the West produced on this platform a product of 
New England transplanted to the West through New York, who 
delivered the best presiding officer's speech in oratory and all 
that makes up a great speech that has been heard in many a 
day in any convention in this country. It was a glorious thing 
to see the fervor of the West and the culture and polish of 
New England giving us an ammunition wagon from which the 
spellbinder everywhere can draw the powder to shoot down 
opposition East and West and North and South. 

THE VICE-PRESIDENCY 

In his Twenty Years in the Press Gallery, Mr. O. O. 
Stealey, a veteran Washington correspondent, makes the 
following reference to the part Mr. Wolcott played in the 
Philadelphia Convention : 

His opening address as Temporary Chairman of the Republi- 
can National Convention of 1900 attracted universal attention. 
The convention was captivated by his eloquence. His voice 
possessed a most magnetic quality, and his diction was well- 
nigh perfect. His speech was frequently interrupted with storms 
of applause, and after its delivery there was strong talk of 
nominating him for the Vice-Presidency. He was thinking over 
the matter when the news reached him that the leaders had 
agreed upon Mr. Roosevelt. He then refused to allow his name 
to go before the convention, and later was Chairman of the 
official committee to notify Mr. Roosevelt of his nomination. 

Mr. Stealey is in error in saying that Mr. Wolcott had 



278 EDWAKD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

under consideration the suggestion of his own nomination 
when Mr. Roosevelt was named for the Vice-Presidency. 
That point already had been settled. There, however, was 
far more serious consideration of Wolcott for second place 
on the National ticket in 1900 than most people knew of. 
Tbat this is true the writer has become convinced since 
beginning this work. While the convention was in pro- 
gress there was frequent mention of him in the press, but 
in the perfunctory manner of the reporter who must needs 
find " a story." But it is now known that his name was 
seriously canvassed by the leaders, and unquestionably his 
nomination would have been entirely acceptable to Major 
McKinley, whose personal friend he was. 

Everything in connection with the Vice-Presidential nomi- 
nation depended upon the attitude of Colonel Roosevelt. 
Just back from the Cuban War, in which he carried off the 
lion's share of glory, it was felt that he would add much 
to the popularity of the ticket. Furthermore, for reasons 
of their own, there were certain New York politicians who 
desired the nomination of Mr. Roosevelt. They wanted to 
eliminate him from New York affairs and they believed that 
his selection for the second place would not only accom- 
plish this result, but that it also would lay him on the 
shelf for all time. How that scheming worked out would 
be another story, but not for this book. Suffice it to say 
that he held aloof for some time, absolutely declining to 
permit himself to be considered a candidate, with the result 
that the New York delegation accepted his declination and 
at a State caucus decided to press Hon. Timothy Woodruff 
for the place. In connection with this condition of affairs 
a plan was conceived in Mr. Wolcott's behalf, and Senator 
Matthew S. Quay was its author. 

Apprehensive that Colorado might still prove obdurate 
and that Mr. Wolcott might fail of re-election to the Sen- 
ate, and being especially desirous of keeping his friend in 
public life, Mr. Quay was an ardent advocate of Wolcott's 
nomination for the Vice-Presidency. He pressed him as in 
every way available — a splendid campaigner and a Republi- 
can whose loyalty had been tried in the fire. He also urged 
the necessity of bringing the Centennial State back into 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 279 

line, which, he argued, would be assured by placing Wolcott 
on the National ticket, But no little planning is necessary 
to bring about a vice-presidential nomination, even though 
it generally seems to come very easily. 

So long as there was uncertainty about Roosevelt's atti- 
tude, Quay was in a quandary, but the Rough-rider had no 
sooner announced his declination than the fertile mind of 
the Pennsylvanian had developed what he believed a feasible 
course for the accomplishment of his desire. His plan was 
this: There should be an apparent effort to force the nomi- 
nation on Roosevelt, and Wolcott, disregarding the selection 
of the New York delegation, should take the floor and bring 
Roosevelt's name to the attention of the convention. All 
was to depend on the character of the nominating speech 
and the manner of the speaker, for it was intended that 
it should result, not in the selection of Roosevelt, but in 
the nomination of Wolcott. Knowing Wolcott's oratorical 
capacity, Mr. Quay had calculated that the Colorado Sen- 
ator would put so much fire and magnetism into his speech 
that he would inspire as great admiration for himself as 
for the hero of San Juan Hill. Advantage was to be taken 
of the situation thus created. Immediately some other 
gifted friend of Quay's was to address the Chair, and, mak- 
ing the most of Roosevelt's refusal, was to place Wol- 
cott himself in nomination, and thus force him through on 
the tidal wave of his own creation. 

The plan was communicated to a few other trusted friends 
of Quay and Wolcott, and the programme was quite com- 
plete until some one suggested the necessity of consulting 
Wolcott. 

Whatever was to be done must be done expeditiously. 
Conventions do not wait indefinitely on private conferences. 
The plan was concocted the night before the nomination 
was to be made. A trusted messenger, who still lives and 
from whom the story is received, was chosen to call upon 
Wolcott. The Colorado Senator had taken a house on 
Spruce Street in Philadelphia for convention week. He was 
entertaining a dinner party when Quay's emissary arrived. 
Excusing himself from his guests, he went out to greet 
his visitor. There is no doubt he would have been pleased 



280 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

to receive the nomination, and he listened eagerly to the 
proposal. The very daring of the coup appealed to him. 
But he did not quite like the indirect method of proceed- 
ing. He also pointed out reasons why an Eastern man 
would be more available for the place than himself. He 
therefore declined; but, in declining, he expressed his ad- 
miration for the originality of the plan. 

It is great! [he exclaimed in his enthusiasm]. It is worthy 
of the general in politics who conceived it. And it might 
work. We might do it; but I do not believe it would be best 
if we should succeed. So, tell " Mike " [his pet name for 
the Pennsylvania Senator] that while I appreciate his inter- 
est I cannot consent under the circumstances. It 's splendid 
of him to want to do such a magnificent thing for me; but we 
shall have to let it pass. 

With these words Mr. Wolcott returned to his guests 
with never a twitch of countenance to indicate the importance 
of the conference in which he had been engaged. His word 
was final. The plan was abandoned. Wolcott was not 
proposed, and notwithstanding his original declination, 
Roosevelt was nominated. 

FOREIGN SERVICE POSSIBLE 

It is also a fact that previous to the convention and 
while there still was a possibility that Mr. Wolcott might 
remain in the Senate, he was tendered a foreign ambassador- 
ship. The proffer came from President McKinley through 
Secretary of State Hay. He was told that he could have 
any post then vacant or soon to become vacant. But the 
offer did not contain any allurement for the Colorado Sen- 
ator and he declined, his declination eliciting from Mr. Hay 
a complimentary note of date October 10, 1898, in which that 
official said: 

" Your letter is precisely what any one who knows you 
would have expected — generous, just, and clear-sighted. As 
to the question of fitness, there can be no two opinions. 
You would be persona gratissima on both sides; but, of 
course, you are wise in refusing to leave the immediate field 
of conflict." 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 281 

Having closely observed Mr. Wolcott's work as Chairman 
of the Bimetallic Commission Mr. Hay had become convinced 
that he would be successful at the head of any legation and 
he was sincerely anxious to utilize his services. Later the 
subject was again taken up, but the way was not open for 
Mr. Wolcott's appointment. The only available places were 
those at Constantinople and St. Petersburg, and diplomacy 
at those centres had no charms for the Colorado Senator. 
He would have been willing to represent his government at 
London or Paris, but at no less important post. Conse- 
quently, after more or less correspondence and consultation 
the subject was dropped. 

NOTIFICATION OF ROOSEVELT 

As the temporary Chairman of the Philadelphia Conven- 
tion it became Mr. Wolcott's duty to head the committee 
appointed by the convention to notify Hon. Theodore Roose- 
velt of his nomination as Vice-President on the ticket with 
Major McKinley. The proceeding took place July 12, 1900, 
on the breeze-swept veranda of Mr. Roosevelt's home on 
Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay, Long Island, and was so simple 
as to be almost informal. 

There was no attempt at ceremony. The participants 
quietly ranged themselves about the wide verandas which 
command a magnificent view of Long Island Sound, and Sen- 
ator Wolcott, practically without preliminaries of any kind, 
delivered a short address, which was frequently applauded. 
His reference to Governor Roosevelt's hunting stories evoked 
a hearty laugh. When he stepped forward he stood in a 
clear space on the crowded porch, facing the doorway of a 
reception-room in front of which the Governor stood in 
erect military attitude. To the left were a number of 
ladies and other guests, Mrs. Roosevelt and three Roosevelt 
children. 

The unceremonious character of the proceeding was due 
to the hot weather and to Mr. Wolcott, who, as Chairman 
of the Notification Committee, gave notice to those who had 
been asked to be present that the occasion was to be strictly 
informal. There was not a high hat or a frock-coat in the 
party. Senator Wolcott himself wore a cool, light suit, 



282 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

becomingly set off with a pink shirt and an expansive pink 
tie. The Vice-Presidential candidate addressed him as 
" Ned," and he called Governor Roosevelt " Ted." 

THE STATE FIGHT 

The convention over, the Presidential and Vice-Presiden- 
tial candidates duly notified, and all the other formalities 
complied with, the work of the campaign was taken up. 
The Republicans nominated Frank C. Goudy, of Denver, for 
Governor, and the Fusionists, James B. Orman of Pueblo. 
Mr. Wolcott gave practically all of his time to the Colorado 
campaign. Many prominent Republican orators visited the 
State and made speeches. Included in the list were the 
Vice-Presidential candidate, Hon. Theodore Roosevelt and 
Hon. Henry Cabot Lodge, United States Senator from 
Massachusetts. The battle was fought on broad lines. The 
Democrats, led by Mr. Bryan, made bold attacks upon the 
McKinley policy in the Philippines, which was character- 
ized as " Imperialism." The Republicans were delighted to 
have an opportunity to defend and explain their course in 
the far-away islands. They had come into the possession 
of the United States as the result of the war incidentally, 
not designedly, and must of necessity be held for the time 
at least, as the defenders of the Administration felt them- 
selves abundantly able to show. 

There were occasional references to silver, but even then, 
only four years after the memorable battle of 1896, the 
money question was recognized in most places as a dead 
issue. Enough was made of it in Colorado to use it as the 
excuse for personal attacks upon the character of Mr. Wol- 
cott, These assaults were often bitter, and on one occasion 
there was an effort at personal violence. This was at Victor, 
when Senator Wolcott visited the great Cripple Creek gold 
camp in company with Governor Roosevelt and Senator 
Lodge. There a melee occurred and it came near result- 
ing in personal injury. At that time the camp was over- 
run with miners fresh from the serious labor troubles in 
northern Idaho and before the arrival of the party, their 
passions had been aroused by the general circulation of a 
pamphlet attacking Wolcott, Roosevelt, and others. The 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 283 

streets were filled with men of threatening aspect, and ban- 
ners carrying the inscription " Remember the Horrors of 
Cceur d'Alene " were displayed at every turn. At the hall 
in which the meeting was held the speakers were greeted 
by a jeering mob, which had taken possession. Many of the 
men were intoxicated and they were most insulting. No 
one was allowed to speak, and the travelling party soon 
left for the train. They were followed by the crowd, which 
continued its hostile demonstrations. These reached their 
climax when Governor Roosevelt was struck in the breast 
with a piece of scantling. Fortunately he was not seriously 
hurt, but the affair came near being a riot and was disgrace- 
ful in the extreme. 

In his very first utterances in the campaign, Mr. Wolcott 
gave his attention to the new " paramount question," that 
of imperialism and militarism. The opportunity for this dis- 
cussion was found at the dedication of a new Republican 
meeting place in Denver, known as Windsor Hall, on Sep- 
tember 9th, and on that occasion the Senator said among 
other things : 

As to the danger from this so-called militarism, you know 
something of the character of the young men who compose the 
United States army, you who sent out regiments of strong young 
men who fought and upheld the nation's flag in Cuba and in 
the Philippines. Some of these young men lie there in the 
islands, others have come home, expansionists; but there is none 
among them who wants to establish a military rule, or who is 
not an ardent supporter of the nation and the liberties of its 
people. This danger of imperialism never existed except in the 
perfervid imaginations of the people who want to tear down 
the Supreme Court and destroy the safeguards of the Govern- 
ment. Such a fear never existed in the young hearts of those 
who have striven and are striving to push the nation into its 
place among the nations of the earth. If our commissioners at 
Paris had given up the Philippines, Mr. Bryan's paramount 
issue in this campaign would be that we did give them up. The 
entire army of the United States, scattered, as it is to-day, in- 
cludes less than nine one-hundredths of one per cent, of the 
people of the United States, less in proportion than it was in 
1870, in a time of profound peace. 

In his speech before the State Convention for the nomi- 



284 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

nation of State officers, which was held in Denver, September 
18th, Mr. Wolcott again took occasion to say that he did 
not consider essential his return to the Senate, but he added 
that in the interest of the State he did desire the election 
of a Republican. 

It is not the purpose to here follow the campaign in all 
its details, for while extremely spirited, it was in most 
respects like many another political contest. 

Fortunately if a review were needed, one has been left 
by Mr. Wolcott who in an interview published in the Denver 
Republican subsequent to the election not only outlined the 
issues as they had been presented, but analyzed the result, 
and pictured a bright future for the State. In that pro- 
nouncement, he reiterated his intention of continuing his 
home in Colorado. The report of the interview follows: 

" Have you any comment to make on the result of the elec- 
tion?" asked a Republican reporter. 

" The Republican party of Colorado ought to be and will be 
intensely gratified with the enormous gains made in this State 
during the last four years," said the Senator. " It is unparalleled 
in the history of politics in any State of the Union. A hostile 
majority of 134,000 has been cut down to about 25,000, and 45 
per cent, and upward of the people of this State, which includes 
a vast majority of the intelligent citizens of Colorado, have 
demonstrated their hearty accord with the principles and policy 
of the Republican party. The change has been radical and 
progressive, and if the election had been postponed a month I 
have no doubt the State would have given a substantial Repub- 
lican majority. As it was, many of us were hopeful enough to 
believe that victory was in sight. We did not make allowance, 
however, for the fact that thousands of people in the State, 
having once voted for Bryan, had that pride of opinion which 
led them to vote for him ' just once more,' although they realized 
that Bryanism was dead. These people, naturally, either hesi- 
tated or were ashamed to declare their intentions before election 
and so the silent vote was cast against us instead of for us. 

" It is pitiful, almost grotesque, to realize that this great in- 
telligent State has joined hands with Montana, which was al- 
ways, even in territorial days, Democratic, and which never went 
Republican except when its Democratic magnates quarrelled, and 
with Nevada, the population of which is less than at least any 
one of six towns in our State, in allying itself with the unprogres- 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 285 

sive States of the South. If any one will take a map and mark 
the States which have cast their majority for Bryan, they will 
see how isolated we are among the great progressive States of 
the Union. Even New Mexico went Republican, and we are 
entirely surrounded by Republican States." 

" To what do you attribute the result in this State? " 

" The silver question is, of course, at the bottom of it. It 
induced our people, irrespective of party, to vote for Bryan four 
years ago, and there are still thousands of people in Colorado 
who have a lingering belief that Democracy and bimetallism go 
hand in hand. There is a rude awakening in store for them. 

" Long before the next national election the Democracy will 
formally abandon the silver question and will take its stand 
on some other issue ; probably the old issue of general antagonism 
to the progressive policies of the Republican party. 

" In the general trend and growth of commerce and of our 
commercial relations with other countries, especially if the 
Orient be opened to foreign commerce, the question of bimetal- 
lism will again be raised, probably by some of the nations of 
Europe. If it does again become matter for international dis- 
cussion it will be through some policy approved by England, 
France, Germany, and the leading commercial nations of the 
world, at some change of ratio, and under conditions which will 
secure an absolute parity of value at a fixed ratio between the 
two metals. The question has long ceased to be one which 
may be settled by the United States alone. Any adjustment of 
it will be international, and it will come without doubt, if it 
comes at all, solely through the policy and action of the Repub- 
lican party. Except in Colorado, Montana, and Nevada, the 
question had ceased to be active and was generally recognized 
this year as being no longer a live issue in this Presidential 
campaign." 

" What part did the Administration's policy of expansion 
play?" 

" A curious feature of it all as affecting Colorado is that at 
heart our people are in entire sympathy with the Administration 
in its policy respecting the Philippines and in all the great ques- 
tions growing out of the recent war with Spain. Western men 
are naturally expansionists and are ready to assume the national 
responsibilities which are imposed upon us. 

" There was never so interesting a time as now in the history of 
our country, and there is no State in the Union which is so certain 
to benefit by the policy of the Republican party as Colorado. 



286 EDWAED OLIVER WOLCOTT 

" The Philippines are ours, and will for all time remain ours. 
In the opening and development of the commerce of these islands 
Colorado, owing to its geographical situation, and its vast and 
varied resources, is certain to have an enormous share. 

" Our cattle interests are to be immensely benefited ; our cotton 
and other mills now running, and the others sure to be estab- 
lished, will conduct an ever-increasing commerce with the islands; 
our iron and steel interests are nearer the Philippines than any 
others in the world, and we shall be a great gainer in that 
direction. 

" Kecent events make it certain that the Orient will before 
long be opened to foreign commerce. There are 250,000,000 of 
human beings who will come into business and other relations 
with the civilized world. Our agricultural interests will be 
vastly stimulated by this enormous market as well as all of our 
iron and steel and manufactured products. In addition to all 
this, both in the Philippines and in China, there will be a con- 
stantly increasing demand for silver, certain to result in both 
steadying and raising the value of the metal. The policy of 
this Administration respecting China has been one of rare abil- 
ity. We have kept our hands off from all attempts to acquire 
territory, but we have successfully insisted that whenever any 
section of the country is opened to foreign traffic American 
merchants shall have free access to their markets. Within the 
next generation tens of thousands of miles of railroad will be 
constructed in China, and Colorado iron and steel works will 
furnish as much of the material as they are able to produce. 

" Important as has been the silver question with the people 
of Colorado, I believe our acquisitions in the Philippines and 
the establishment of our right to share in the commerce of the 
Orient means far greater prosperity to Colorado than it would 
have experienced, even under the restoration of bimetallism." 

The interview then entered upon the practical present- 
day consideration of the best thing to be done under the 
circumstances, in which Mr. Wolcott was especially at home. 
" How," the reporter asked, " will the Avelfare of Colorado 
be affected by the fact that its Congressional delegation will 
be entirely Fusion and in the minority? " Mr. Wolcott 
replied : 

This country is entering upon an era of unparalleled pros- 
perity. Colorado is certain to enjoy a share of it. Of course 
if a State is in harmony with the general policy of the Govern- 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 287 

ment, and its representatives are in accord with the majority 
of Congress, it has a great advantage in securing needed and 
favorable legislation. Our disadvantage in this respect ought 
largely to be overcome by the fact, however, that every decent 
citizen of Colorado, whatever may be his political affiliations, 
will work with constant and undivided effort toward securing 
everything possible for our State. The Eepublican party is in 
the minority, but it is equally interested in advancing the wel- 
fare and prosperity of our State. We all have, to a greater or 
less degree, friendships and influence at the national capital, 
and every one of us will do what we can to help Colorado. 
Important measures have already passed the Senate, such as the 
bill for the Soldier's Home and for certain public buildings. 
Unless they pass the House this winter they will have to be 
reintroduced into both bodies. I shall, of course, do everything 
in my power to secure the passage through the House of all 
these measures, and the Congressional delegation, whatever may 
be its political character, will naturally do what it can. 

It is no time for anybody to sulk. What we want in Colo- 
rado are hope and confidence and real prosperity, and every 
good citizen, irrespective of party, will seek to build up the 
welfare of the State. 

We have already secured for Colorado a more ample dis- 
tribution of rural free delivery than has been accorded, terri- 
torially, to any other State in the Union, and the last few 
years have seen a very great increase in the number of our 
mail routes and a general extension of our mail facilities. We 
have been treated with great courtesy by the representatives of 
the other States in the Union, and I trust that the same liberal 
policy may continue to prevail in our behalf. 

There is another matter of vital importance to Colorado 
which I trust will be soon brought about. We appropriate an- 
nually millions upon millions of dollars for river and harbor 
improvements. Colorado is one of two or three States in the 
Union which has no share, or direct benefit, from these appro- 
priations. There has been for some years a growing inclination 
among the Eastern Senators to recognize the demands of the 
arid States for intelligent surveys and liberal appropriations 
for the building of reservoirs and the storage of water for irrigat- 
ing purposes. With a united and persistent effort I believe that 
a system of such internal improvements can be soon commenced 
and carried out from year to year, until the irrigable lands of 
Colorado will be quintupled in acreage. 



288 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

I sincerely believe that within a generation the population 
of Colorado will be counted by millions, and that even then we 
will have hardly commenced the development of our resources. 
If in twenty-five years from now any new-comer should be told 
that in the last year of the century a majority of the people 
of this State voted in favor of dishonoring the policy of the 
Administration, and for a Presidential candidate pledged to 
withdraw our soldiers and our authority from the Philippines 
and running on a platform which denied the constitutionality 
or wisdom of the expansion of our territory, he would find it 
difficult of belief. Colorado is full of intelligent and progressive 
and patriotic people. We do not belong to the ignorant and 
illiterate States, and long before the next Presidential campaign 
comes around our people will set themselves right on national 
questions and take the position that belongs to us with the 
intelligent and progressive States of the North, the West, and 
the East. 

Asked concerning his own future, Senator Wolcott said : 

I shall be going East soon to serve out the remainder of my 
term, which ends on the 3d of March. 

I shall then return to Colorado, where I have lived for thirty 
years, and which is the only home I have ever known. I shall 
resume here the practice of my profession. Everything I have 
or hope for, all my interests, all my associations, are centred 
in the State; I shall live here until I die, and in office or out 
of office, I shall continue to be a steadfast Republican believing 
in the principles of the party with which I have been identified 
since boyhood. 

For twelve years I have served my party and the State jn 
the Senate of the United States, and during that time I have 
cast no vote that I would change if I could. I am not in the 
least disturbed by the personal attacks which have been made 
upon me for I am conscious of their injustice. The talk of my 
accepting other responsibilities out of the State is nonsense. 
There is no place like Colorado, and I expect to find here a 
field of usefulness and happiness for the rest of my life. 

There is one other word I must say. During the last cam- 
paign the Republican party was united and earnest and patriotic 
as never before in its history. In every county of the State 
the members of the Republican party counted no sacrifice too 
great, or no work too arduous that might bring success. 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 289 

Our gains have been tremendous and the size of the Republi- 
can vote in every county of the State is most flattering. The 
credit of this is largely due to the women of Colorado, and 
especially of Arapahoe County, who, with perfect organization 
and sincere devotion to the principles of the party, worked 
unceasingly to bring about its success. 

Personally, I am relieved at the outcome; as a Republican 
I feel buoyant and joyful over the great accessions to our party, 
and I look forward, as does every other good Republican in 
Colorado, to the day of our eventual and final triumph, which 
cannot be long postponed. 

That after the general election he accepted with equanim- 
ity the prospect, even the certainty, of defeat, by the Legis- 
lature, is evidenced by the tenor of a speech he made before 
the Union League Club at Philadelphia two or three weeks 
after the result in Colorado had become known. Declaring 
in that address that he was " no mourner," he said : 

I have been told for years that " Sweet are the uses of ad- 
versity." Fortunately, I have many years in which to ascertain 
wherein that sweetness consists. There is no more pitiable spec- 
tacle than a man in public life who fancies that the world 
owes him something. In this world we are entitled to just so 
much of success as we conquer, no more. Somebody has said 
that to the strong man life is a splendid fracas, and this is 
true. It is infinitely better to have fought and lost than not 
to have fought. 

The following from the same address is too characteristic 
to be omitted in this connection : 

She [Colorado] is a wonderful State, of marvellous resources 
and unlimited possibilities. The sun shines out of a clear sky 
for three hundred and fifty days in every year, and she is set- 
tled by as fine a set of people as ever lived under the canopy 
of Heaven. I know, for I have lived there since boyhood. I 
have served her for twelve years in the Senate. I have been 
hanged in effigy in most of her important towns. I have been 
burned in effigy in a few of them, and I claim the right to 
speak for the people, because I know them. I have known 
there days of friendship, and days of adversity, and days of 
returning friendship, and, although the sun climbs slowly 

VOL. I. — 10 



290 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

over its canons and defiles, it gets there finally, and its dawn 
is already beginning to illumine the State. 

When the Legislature met in January only an even dozen 
of its hundred members were Republican, and Hon. Thomas 
M. Patterson was elected to succeed Mr. Wolcott, after 
twelve years of service by the latter in the highest legis- 
lative body in the Union. Mr. Patterson had been Mr. Wol- 
cott's consistent and persistent antagonist during most of 
the thirty years each had been in the State, both as a party 
leader, and as owner and editor of the principal opposition 
newspaper in the State. They also had been frequently op- 
posed to each other as counsel in cases at bar. In many 
ways, indeed, they were rivals, and while in the heat of 
controversy many bitter sentiments found expression by 
each regarding the other. These, however, were soon for- 
gotten, and their antagonisms did not extend beyond politics. 
Mr. Wolcott recognized in Mr. Patterson a man of ability, 
and after the latter's election did all that he could to in- 
fluence his friends in the State to aid in upholding his hands 
as a representative of the State in the Senate. 

Returning to Washington after the announcement of the 
result of the November election, Senator Wolcott continued 
to give his undivided attention to his legislative duties until 
the close of the term on March 4, 1901. He was Chairman 
of the Committee on Post-offices and Post-roads, and the 
big appropriation bill providing more than a hundred mil- 
lion dollars for the conduct of the postal affairs of the coun- 
try continued to hang fire until almost the last hour of 
the session. Mr. Wolcott had every detail of the vast meas- 
ure at his fingers' ends, and was in the thick of the fray 
to the last. 

A melancholy interruption of his legislative duties came 
about a month before the close of the session, when he w T as 
called to Longmeadow by his mother's death. 

OUT OF THE SENATE 

Poor health kept Mr. Wolcott from Colorado until the 
next fall, a year from the time of his previous contest. In 
the county elections of 1901 the Republicans again made 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 291 

large gains outside of Arapahoe County, and Mr. Wolcott 
issued a statement claiming the State to be Republican at 
last, He said: 

The election just over shows that the majority of the people 
of this State are Eepublicans. Outside Arapahoe County the 
party scored a glorious victory. 

In this county, owing to Democratic frauds, principally, 
but partially, as well, to apathy and to dissatisfaction, which I 
do not believe to have been well founded, we failed to carry 
our ticket, and Arapahoe County will, for two years longer, suffer 
from mismanagement, which has increased our taxes and di- 
verted our revenues from their proper channels. There are 
some political questions affecting the party in Colorado that I 
am glad to talk about. 

Until 1896 we belonged among the strongest of Republican 
States. Then came the Bryan delusion, which swept ninety per 
cent, of the voters, including eighty per cent, of the Republi- 
cans, into the Populist-Democratic vortex. Less than eleven per 
cent, of us stood with the party. Our former friends, naturally 
enough, wanted to " make it unanimous," and the story of the 
struggle we had to prevent our whole organization from being 
taken, body and breeches, into the Bryan ranks would make 
very interesting reading. As a natural result, those who re- 
mained with the party had to make very stringent rules respect- 
ing its primaries, nominees, and conventions. It was done solely 
as a measure of self-preservation. But now tbe necessity for 
such regulations has long since ceased to exist, for we have 
again become a united party. 

Two years ago I urged that the rules be widened, and, so 
far as possible, all rules be abrogated so that every man and 
woman desiring Republican success should have not only full 
voice, but equal voice in all its deliberations and in controlling 
the policy and organization of the party. I have n't been home 
long enough to have talked with any one familiar with the 
subject, but if there is a single rule or regulation in our party 
organization that prevents the full and fair and free expression 
of the views of any Republican, or prevents or hampers the 
open and free choice of the majority of the Republicans of the 
State from being registered, I am for the unqualified repeal of 
such a rule. 

Yes [he said further in the same statement], I am back here 
to stay this winter and every winter and every summer, unless 



292 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

I am called away from the State on business; and I expect to 
renew the practice of my profession which I have followed in 
Colorado for thirty years this autumn. 

Shall I continue to take an interest in Colorado politics? 
Of course I shall! And I have no doubt that we will soon take 
a place where we belong, among the intelligent, progressive 
Republican States of the Northwest. 

This statement by Mr. Wolcott covered much important 
ground and deserves no slight attention from the biographer. 
Portions of it will be quoted elsewhere, but his concession 
to aspirants and his estimate of his own place in the party 
show a phase of character for which he received little credit. 
On those points he said : 

The battle for Republican principles in this State for the 
past five years has been fierce and bitter. Those of us who 
maintained the brunt of the attack aroused, naturally enough, 
the greatest hostility; it was inseparable from such a contest. 

I have always foreseen that when the day of the party's re- 
union should come, as it surely would, I should be a rock of 
offence to some good men who had conscientiously left the party, 
and who now are inclined to return to it, but who still remember 
something of the former rancor. 

I both understand and respect this sentiment. Republican 
success is of infinitely greater importance to the prosperity and 
welfare of our State than that any one man should be called 
to represent her in the Senate of the United States, and no 
man feels this more deeply than myself. 

It would be premature and idle to say that I would not 
accept an office that may never be tendered me, and that office 
the highest Colorado can bestow. 

P.ut I am in no sense an aspirant for the Senate. Colorado 
has rewarded me far beyond my deserts, and I shall be wholly 
content to spend the remainder of my life as a citizen of Colo- 
rado, devoting myself to her advancement, and seeking always 
the triumph, in the State and nation, of Republican principles, 
under which alone we have ever achieved prosperity. 

But broader still was his platform! Hear his plea for 
other " bosses " in his own party : 

So much for party " bossism," so far as I am concerned. But 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 293 

I already hear criticism of other " bosses," criticism which, in 
my opinion, has no real foundation. There will always be 
" slates,'' as they are termed, and there will always be, in any 
vigorous party, a struggle within party lines to secure its honors 
and a share in its direction. The cries of " slate " in conven- 
tions, so far as they come from men who interest themselves 
actively in politics, really mean little, for if they had control 
they would be, properly enough, equally active in endeavoring 
to manage conventions. 

There are, however, thousands of intelligent men in this State, 
bound by no rigid party lines, who have an impression that if 
they vote one " gang " out they only vote another in. 

When Colorado wins its next Kepublican victory it will be 
when these voters believe that no man and no set of men domi- 
nate our party, and when we present a ticket made up of good 
men in whose nomination every Kepublican has had, or has had 
the opportunity of having, full and free and equal voice. 

And for the successful " bosses " in the other party : 

One thing further: Our representation at Washington be- 
longs to a hopeless minority. We need, as never before, generous 
and intelligent legislation for Western interests, not alone in the 
reclaiming of our millions of acres of arid lands, but in countless 
directions. 

We ought to strengthen the hands of our Senators and Rep- 
resentatives in every possible way, assisting them in their presen- 
tation of our interests and generously applauding them when 
they accomplish something for us. They all seek to help our 
State in the national councils, and we owe them every encourage- 
ment in this direction. Nothing more seriously hampers honest 
effort in Washington than constant and belittling abuse at home. 
I know, for I have had more experience of it than most men 
in public life. 

The next few years mean so much to Colorado ! This republic 
has become one of the great world nations, destined to share in 
the solution of the vast problems of civilization all over the 
globe. We have reached such a plane of prosperity as the most 
hopeful of us never dreamed of twenty-five years ago. And we 
are only at the threshold of our possibilities. Colorado, with 
her limitless resources, can contribute more to the general sum 
of prosperity than any commonwealth in the Union, and I be- 
lieve we shall never attain the measure of our greatness until 



294 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

we renew our devotion to the Republican party, under whose 
principles and policy our country has made such giant strides. 

Yet, while approving the denunciation of pernicious 
political bossism, Mr. Wolcott did not concur in the con- 
demnation of his appointees which was indulged in by 
some of the Republicans. He realized that this was only 
another means of criticising himself, and, convinced of the 
loyalty and patriotism of these men, he did not turn against 
them because of the public clamor. The two men most 
viciously attacked had been among his most devoted fol- 
lowers in '96, and he found in the aspersions upon them 
assaults upon their party loyalty, which especially aroused 
his resentment. While not demanding especial favors for 
those who had remained true to the party, he could not 
endure reflections on them because of their fidelity. 

But if he defended the characters of individual office- 
holders he did not attempt to exercise any further influence 
in the matter of the distribution of Federal patronage. Once 
out of office himself he determined to let the minor office- 
holders look out for themselves. He claimed no authority 
because of past position. If his party should bestow any 
future honors upon him they must come because of the 
public recognition of the fact that he had proved himself 
worthy of trust and not because of the favor of individuals 
won by office barter. Openly avowing this policy, he said 
in an interview printed November 17, 1901 : 

" With my return to private life my duty as to appoint- 
ments is ended. I naturally am interested in preventing 
the removal of fit and proper appointees now in office, but 
I shall no longer be active in influencing the selection of new 
men for the offices." 

In a speech made February 14, 1902, he was able to assert : 
" Since my retirement from the Senate I have not sent a 
single letter about an appointment to the President nor to 
any member of his Cabinet," So again, at a still later 
period : "Iain in private life and am not counted a pur- 
veyor of patronage, but a simple citizen fighting in the 
ranks." 

Thus he stood when the campaign of 1902-3 opened. 



THE LAST SENATORIAL FIGHT 

CAME then Mr. Wolcott's final political struggle — the 
contest of 1902-3, when the Republicans were again 
in the majority, as was attested by the election of a 
State ticket, including James H. Peabody as Governor. 
The triumph of his party at that time brought to Mr. Wol- 
cott his only chance of re-election after the expiration of his 
second term in the Senate, and the Fates then seemed to 
conspire to prevent his success. Senator Teller's term ex- 
pired on the 4th of March, 1903, and if the Republican party 
in the State had been harmonious, the re-election of Mr. 
Teller, who had become a Democrat, might have been pre- 
vented, and, after a lapse of two years, Mr. Wolcott might 
have been chosen to resume his old place in the Senate. 

But Mr. Wolcott was not so well prepared then to com- 
mand the situation as he had been most of the time in the 
preceding fifteen or twenty years. During the greater part 
of that period his power in the party had been absolute ; but 
upon leaving the Senate he had surrendered control of the 
machinery, had permitted his supporters to drift away, and 
in doing so had allowed his enemies to gain such ascendancy 
in the party as to render them capable of accomplishing his 
defeat by co-operating with the Democrats. His relinquish- 
ment of party authority greatly emboldened his opponents, 
many of whom would not have taken a positive position 
against him if he had occupied his old position of power. 

Aside from the natural ambition which had demurred at 
his supremacy, there were special reasons why many were re- 
luctant to follow his leadership. Some of those who aban- 
doned the party in 1896 retained their personal antagonism 

295 



296 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

after their return. The quality of his leadership operated 
against him. Had he been a dickering politician, working 
simply for immediate success he would have stood on a 
lower plane. Those who co-operated with him would have 
felt that they were using him rather than following him. 
But he always had maintained such a lofty tone that those 
who had parted with him for a while found themselves 
tacitly acknowledging by the very act of returning to 
their allegiance that they had been in the wrong and 
he in the right. His imperious manner had been at all 
times an offence to many persons, some of whom had 
schooled themselves to bear it with what patience they 
could, but many of whom openly resented what seemed 
to them his lack of courtesy. It is probable, moreover, 
that persons against whose interests he had appeared in 
the courts had a feeling of having suffered wrong through 
him, and it is certain that some of the corporations 
which he had antagonized were among his determined and 
effective foes. In short, all of the grievances which had 
accumulated against him during his long political reign, 
which had smouldered quietly as long as he was successful, 
now sought vent. 

The Chairman of the State Republican Committee, J. B. 
Fairley, of Colorado Springs, was opposed to Mr. Wolcott. 
Indeed, the machinery of the entire Republican Committee 
was arrayed against him notwithstanding most of its officers 
had been chosen by him. There also was another Colorado 
Springs man, Mr. Philip B. Stewart, a recent comer into 
the State and a novice in politics, who by reason of his 
connections in Washington was regarded as the distributor 
of Federal patronage, who exerted himself to the utmost 
against Wolcott. In addition to these adverse conditions 
in his own party, the Democrats were fairly united. 

But notwithstanding all these elements of opposition he 
would have stood a fair chance of winning if some of the 
Republican members of the Legislature had not conspired 
against him, as they did at the crucial time. 

Mr. Wolcott's opponents in his own party began opera- 
tions by appealing to his chivalry in connection with the 
State campaign of 1902. Representing to him that if he 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 297 

were absent from the State and had no part in that eon- 
test, the fight could be made on the State ticket without 
having the question of the Senatorship complicated with 
it, thus increasing the prospect of success, they appealed 
to him to go away for the time. He had misgivings as to 
the wisdom of the course, but yielded. It is evidence of the 
openness of spirit of one ordinarily so shrewd in political 
matters that he should have been thus hoodwinked. The 
rival Republican factions made use of his departure to 
strengthen their position. When, after the election of the 
Republican State ticket, Mr. Wolcott returned, they claimed 
that his absence from the State had been accepted as a 
pledge that he would not seek to return to the Senate. 

Far from having given such a pledge, he had let it be 
known among his friends that a return to the Senate would 
be agreeable to him whenever it could be brought about 
without injury to the party. He enjoyed service in the 
Senate, but his Senatorial ambition was subordinated to the 
success of Republicanism. Hence, in becoming a candidate, 
he was not inconsistent. He had said over and again that 
he was not concerned so much for his own success as for 
the restoration of his party to power, and that his chief 
desire w r as that Colorado should be represented in the Sen- 
ate by a Republican — a circumstance which would help to 
put the State in accord with the dominant party in the coun- 
try, and, as he believed, place it in the way of greater in- 
dustrial progress and more rapid material development. He 
never had said that he would not be a candidate. He real- 
ized as did few others the probability of other aspirants 
entering the contest, and he did not seek to discourage them. 
He was willing that all should have a fair field, and he asked 
as much for himself. 

The first open indication of opposition to his candidacy 
came immediately after the result of the November elections 
became known as favorable to the Republican ticket, and 
was made manifest in connection with a meeting in Denver 
called for November 18th to ratify and rejoice over the 
result at the polls. This meeting was held under the auspices 
of the Young Men's Republican Club, and was called by W. 
B. Lowry, chairman of the local committee, whose plan was 



298 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

to have a number of ten-minute speeches by the candidates 
and State leaders. Mr. Lowry obtained Mr. Wolcott's con- 
sent by telegraph to deliver one of these addresses, but when 
Mr. Fairley learned that Wolcott was on the programme, he 
sent telegrams all over the State, calling the meeting off. 
Lowry, however, despatched rival messages declaring the 
meeting would be held, and it was held. 

Wolcott arrived in Denver the day before the meeting. 
As the Denver Post tells the story, Lowry went to see him, 
feeling very despondent over the withdrawal of speakers. 
Wolcott heard Lowry's report in silence. He paced up and 
down the room for a few minutes, and going then to Lowry, 
laid his hand on that gentleman's shoulder, saying : 

" Walter, it is n't the first time Colorado Republicans 
have refused to speak from the same platform with me. 
We will hold the meeting. You go ahead with the arrange- 
ments. If there is nobody on the platform but you and me 
we will carry out the programme, and I will endeavor to 
entertain the audience for the entire evening." 

Chairman Lowry and the local Republicans had prepared 
extensive plans in the way of parade and bands and were 
expecting to expend considerable money out of their own 
pockets, but Wolcott would not permit them to do so. " You 
go on and get up the finest demonstration that can be had," 
he said, " and then bring the bills to me." 

The absence of Mr. Fairley and his followers did not, 
therefore, prevent an enthusiastic demonstration either on 
the street or in Coliseum Hall, where the meeting was held. 
Giving an account of it, next day, the Denver Republican 
said: 

Thirty thousand citizens joined last night in the great jolli- 
fication over the return of the State of Colorado to the union 
of Republican States. Ten thousand marched in line, or rode 
in carriages, waving banners, swinging torches, and cheering. 
Twenty thousand more lined the streets along the two miles of 
the line of march, a solid mass of humanity. Everywhere was 
the same enthusiasm shown, the kind which cannot be embalmed, 
sealed up, and put in a vault to be brought out for use on 
a later occasion. 

Five thousand were packed in Coliseum Hall to hear the 






'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 299 

speeches delivered by leaders of the party to whom Republicanism 
in wholesale lots means no menace. Two thousand more filled 
the street outside, and formed an overflow meeting which was 
addressed by speakers from within. Everywhere was good na- 
ture. The crowd knew no enemies, and it knew no factions. 
All were Republicans, glad that Republicanism had triumphed. 

Edward O. Wolcott spoke again from the platform where 
six years ago he had to be guarded from the violence of the 
opposition while he addressed a small gathering of the faithful. 
But this time it was to a cheering crowd, every one recognizing 
his leadership in the party which he led through the deserts in 
the days when its numbers were few. 

In addition to Mr. Wolcott, Congressman-elect H. M. 
Hogg, John W. Springer, and Edward P. Costigan delivered 
addresses. While in the main devoting his remarks to gen- 
eral issues, Mr. Wolcott did not fail to make reference to 
the circumstances under which the meeting was held. He 
spoke in jocular mood, mentioning several of the more 
notable absentees, whom he cajoled unmercifully. Referring 
to Chairman Fairley, he said : 

I regret the personal attack that has grown out of this 
meeting, for I know he will regret it some day. I have spent 
my time fighting Democrats, and I don't propose to enter into 
a campaign of slander. I believe we should send greeting to 
him to-night, and if he does not invite us to his party in Janu- 
ary, we will be there. If we are not at the table, we will be 
in the galleries. 

Especial reference was made by Mr. Wolcott to the device 
by which he had been induced to refrain from participation 
in the campaign, as follows : 

In this last campaign I was requested by the members of 
the central committee to withdraw from the convention and 
from the State because they believed that if the Senatorial 
contest were eliminated and the battle fought out on State 
issues, our chances of success would be greater. My pride was 
hurt as never before. If I am called upon to abstain from one 
contest in Colorado I think perhaps my record is as good as 
that of most of the party, and if I am to be debarred from 
any campaign in this State I would rather it would be at such 



300 EDAVARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

a time as this, when victory was in sight, for I cherish no 
memory in my life as precious and as sacred as the associations 
formed in those dark days, now happily forever past, when, with 
no ray of hope and no star in the sky, facing certain defeat 
and hate, it was my blessed privilege to be one of those who 
warmed into life the almost dead embers of Republican prin- 
ciples in Colorado, until now they have been pressed into victory., 

An important feature of the address was a plea for 
party loyalty, in part as follows : 

This meeting is given under the auspices of the Young Men's 
Republican Club. It seems to me but yesterday when I, too, 
used to speak for young men and for young men's Republican 
clubs. But the span of political life is short and the workers 
drop out, and the new men and the young men come and fill 
the ranks. You are to be congratulated that you come upon the 
arena at a time when the old battles have been fought and 
the old bitterness threshed out, and you have only to preserve 
and maintain intact that for which your elders fought. Grow- 
ing out of the lessons of the last few years, may I beg of you 
to insist to the members of your club and to the young men of 
Colorado, to stand always with their party, and if things go 
wrong and you want to right them, right them from within 
and not from without. And, further, my friends, when you see 
factions and personalities in you own party raising their heads, 
stamp them out. The individual is nothing, — the party is all. 
Faction and slander are the poor creatures of the hour. The 
great principles of the Republican party are eternal, and by 
your devotion to them, and so only, can you lift this great 
commonwealth, with its marvellous resources, into the front rank 
of the States of the Union. And so, and so only, can you place 
our great beloved country in the forefront of the nations of 
the earth, a mighty instrument for progress, for civilization, and 
for Christianity. 

From the time of Mr. Wolcott's return to the State the 
Senatorial contest became the subject of much attention, and 
the situation in the Legislature was canvassed with especial 
care. When that body, comprised of one hundred members, 
assembled it was found to be composed of fifty-five Democrats 
and forty-five Republicans, giving the Democrats a majority 
of ten on joint ballot. But, because of the allegations of 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 301 

fraud in the election of members, the Republicans were not 
without hope of overcoming this disadvantage. Of the thirty- 
five Senators twenty-four were Democrats and eleven Re- 
publicans, and there was no prospect of a favorable change 
in that body. In the House there was a Republican majority 
of three, there being thirty-four Republicans and thirty-one 
Democrats. Among others the fraud charges involved all of 
the House members from Arapahoe County, including eleven 
representing that county alone and four representing Ara- 
pahoe in connection with small adjoining counties who were 
known as " floats." The frauds consisted of all manner of 
election irregularities, and those in Arapahoe were so fla- 
grant as to attract much attention and call forth severe con- 
demnation from all believers in righteous government. Still, 
it was contended that, even though illegal ballots had been 
cast, there were not enough of them to overcome the large 
majorities returned for the Democratic candidates, and in 
addition there were countercharges in connection with the 
election of Republican members in other counties. How- 
ever, except in a few cases, the last mentioned charges were 
never pressed to a conclusion, so that the Arapahoe elections 
still bear an unenviable distinction. Mr. Woleott believed 
the infractions of honesty and decency to have been without 
excuse, and he spent a large sum in proving them to be so. 

It never was intended by the anti-Wolcott leaders that 
the fraudulent elections should be exposed if in any way Wol- 
cott was to become a beneficiary of the proceeding, and in 
the end the fear that he would be such beneficiary prevented 
effective action. Notwithstanding Mr. Wolcott's practically 
enforced absence from the State during the previous cam- 
paign, most of the Republican Senators and an even half, 
or seventeen, of the thirty-four Republican members of the 
House were advocates of his election, as were enough of 
the Republican contestants to insure him a majority in a 
Republican caucus in case of the removal of the Democrats 
against whom there were charges. 

This situation was not a pleasing one to either the Demo- 
crats or to Wolcott's Republican antagonists. Independently 
and through fusion with the Populists, the Democrats had 
been in control of the Legislature as well as the State offices 



302 EDWAED OLIVER WOLCOTT 

since 1896. Their majorities had gradually dwindled away 
until their men had been removed from all the executive 
places, and now that they were in danger of losing the Legis- 
lature also they were ready to exert themselves to the utmost 
to prevent such result. The Legislature was all that was left ; 
there they must make their final stand. The fact that the 
United States Senatorship was involved in the contest nat- 
urally acted as an incentive to a vigorous fight. Conse- 
quently they were in receptive mood when advances came 
from the Wolcott opponents in Republican ranks. The 
anti-Wolcott Republicans were by no means enamored of 
the Democrats, but they were willing to forego all party 
advantage to insure Wolcott's humiliation. Coalition offered 
the surest means of accomplishing this end, and the session 
had not proceeded far when the Wolcott opponents were 
found working together regardless of party name. 

Deep feeling resulted from this state of affairs, event- 
uating in a situation such as seldom has been witnessed 
anywhere in connection with a Senatorial contest. Six 
members of both Houses were expelled; for a time two 
Senates were sitting; the legislative halls were barricaded, 
and in the control of heavily armed guards. There was talk 
of calling out the militia. Bloodshed was imminent at any 
moment for almost a week. During much of that time 
Senators and members slept at their desks, because they did 
not feel safe in leaving them. 

As the time approached for the session of the Legislature, 
it was felt to be desirable that a caucus should be held to 
determine the course of the party representatives, and on 
January 6th, the day before the session opened, Mr. Wolcott 
addressed the following letter to Mr. Fairley : 

Dear Sir: The General Assembly meets to-morrow morning. 
There is in the House of Representatives a clear majority of 
Republican members. 

There was never in the history of the State such an impor- 
tant session of the Assembly as this, or one on whose action the 
future of the party and the welfare of the State so greatly 
depended. 

At a time when the Democracy presents a united front, our 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 303 

party seems threatened with dissensions of a more or less serious 
character. 

It is of comparatively little importance who is elected Sen- 
ator, but he should be a Republican. Of far more vital moment 
is it that our party should be courageous and animated by a 
common and friendly purpose. There are gross frauds upon the 
ballot to be dealt with. The Republican governor should have 
his hands strengthened by a united party. 

The very foundations of Republicanism are based upon the 
proposition that it acts always through the will of its members, 
as evidenced by the wish of the majority, and never in collusion 
with the Democracy. 

The Speaker of the House must be chosen to-morrow. Before 
that hour the Republican members should meet in free and fair 
caucus and determine by vote in the ordinary and customary 
way their choice for Speaker. I am informed that although 
most of the members desire so to meet, no concerted arrangement 
for such a meeting has yet been effected. 

For these reasons, and because I know your sturdy devotion 
to Republican principles and traditions, I take the liberty of 
respectfully requesting you, as the recognized head of the party 
organization, to call upon the Republican members of the House 
of Representatives, to meet in caucus at an early hour, at some 
convenient place, to determine by the vote of the majority of 
the members present, their choice for Speaker. Yours truly, 

Edward O. Wolcott. 

No response was made to this appeal, and no caucus 
was held. The House was in a deadlock over the Speaker- 
ship for forty-eight ballots, the votes for the candidates 
standing 17 for the Wolcott candidate, 17 for the anti- 
Wolcott candidate, and 31 for the Democratic candidate, 
when suddenly the Democrats abandoned their man to vote 
for J. B. Sanford, of Douglas County, an anti-Wolcott Re- 
publican, with the result that he w T as elected. 

With the House organized and ready for business, the 
first matter to be settled by the Legislature was the dis- 
posal of the contested elections. The new Speaker ap- 
pointed a Committee on Elections to consider this subject, 
five of whom were anti-Wolcott Republicans and four 
Democrats, the latter including two of those whose seats 
were in dispute. The Republican members of the Committee 



304 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

were embarrassed by the fact that nine of the fifteen Ara- 
pahoe claimants of seats were supporters of Mr. Wolcott, a 
sufficient number if seated to give him a majority of the 
votes of the party. Meantime the Senate, alleging Repub- 
lican as well as Democratic frauds, had threatened to unseat 
a Republican for every Democratic member of the House 
displaced, and to this end had adopted the Goebel rule of 
the Kentucky Legislature, by which the Secretary of the 
Senate was authorized to put a motion for the unseating 
of members if the Lieutenant-Governor refused to do so. At 
this juncture, January 16th, Mr. Wolcott issued the follow- 
ing appeal : 

To the Republicans of Colorado : 

The grave and imminent danger which threatens the party 
— the certainty that within almost a few hours, unless wise 
judgments intervene, our representatives will engulf us in irrepa- 
rable party disgrace, of far-reaching injury, and affecting 
seriously the future welfare of the State, is my excuse and 
justification for this appeal. 

It is not a time for recrimination or personalities. It is a 
moment when the real earnest Republicans of Colorado, without 
rancor, but with earnest purpose, must exercise every possible 
influence in their power to induce their own representatives in 
the General Assembly to stand by Republican principles, with- 
draw before it is too late from disastrous and dishonorable 
fusion with Democrats, consent to vote and work with their 
fellow-members of the same political faith, and save the country 
the spectacle of the election of a Democrat by a Legislature 
which every man in Colorado knows to be fairly Republican, 
and which only needs honest and united action to make it so. 
In the Colorado House of Representatives there are at present 
thirty-four Republicans and thirty-one Democrats. There are 
pro forma contests for all seats, but the one main contention 
is the question whether the fifteen members of the House, eleven 
from the county proper, and four tied to Arapahoe County and 
known as float members, elected, all of them, through glar- 
ing, open, undenied, and undeniable fraud, shall hold their seats. 
The facts are familiar to everybody. These crimes against the 
ballot have been thoroughly investigated, the summary of the 
evidence long since in the hands of every legislator; and unless 
there shall be an opportunity of voting upon them by the mem- 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 305 

bers of this Legislature, it not only means a Democratic General 
Assembly, but it means something far more, a condoning by 
Republicans of great and palpable frauds and a perversion and 
miscarriage of justice. There are also frauds alleged and said 
to be proved, affecting two members from the southeastern 
portion of the State. 

Before the opening of the session, the thirty-four Republican 
members of the House entered, as is usual, into an intense, 
but, everybody supposed, a good-natured party rivalry and con- 
test for the selection of a Speaker. The very foundation of the 
party is based upon control by the majority, evidenced by the 
action of its members in convention or conference or caucus. 
The day, therefore, before the Assembly was to meet, seventeen 
Republicans asked their associates to come into caucus or con- 
ference, to arrive at a choice for Speaker. To their amazement 
this was refused by men assuming to speak for the seventeen to 
whom the request was made. An appeal was made to the Chair- 
man of the State Central Committee, as the head of the organiza- 
tion, to exercise his influence to bring about such a caucus, but 
the appeal was refused. What followed we all know. The thirty- 
one Democrats, and seventeen Republicans refusing to caucus, 
elected a Speaker and committees, and the patronage was dis- 
tributed among them. 

It is futile now to discuss the terms of this deal. There must 
have been some inducements for such an arrangement. The un- 
fortunate evidences of the deal, so far most apparent, are the 
appointment by the Speaker of four Democrats on the Elections 
Committee, two of whom are from Arapahoe County, upon the 
unseating of whose members the whole question of the complex- 
ion of the Legislature turns; and upon the fact that when the 
non-fusion Republicans urged speedy action by the Elections 
Committee, and by resolutions called for a report by the 15th, 
the other side first changed it to the 17th, and then, the fusion 
Republicans and the Democrats agreeing, again postponed it 
until eleven o'clock on the 19th, but twenty-four hours before 
the. voting on the Senatorship commences — to an hour when, 
unless there is absolute unanimity among all the Republicans, 
and a firm resolve to act together with vigor and courage in 
the few hours left for action, the election of a Democratic 
Senator is certain. 

The issue which we must meet and face, as Republicans, is 
not the question of who shall be the next United States Senator. 
It is solely and only whether the Republican members of the 



306 EDWAKD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

House, having right with them, shall do their duty and make 
the General Assembly Republican on joint ballot. The threat- 
ened importation into the State Senate by Democrats of the 
bloody methods which have forever blackened the good name of 
the State of Kentucky, must not swerve us. The patriotic Re- 
publicans in the State Senate are loyal to their party, and 
they are able, backed by a Republican Governor, to take care 
of themselves. 

There is still time for the seventeen Republicans who declined 
to act with their party associates to retrace their steps. They 
were elected as Republicans; they are Republicans. They have 
been the dupes of designing and unscrupulous men. They may 
still save the good name of the State. Let them report the whole 
body of the contestants back into the House, and let the thirty- 
four Republicans, in the open, and before the sight of the Re- 
publicans of Colorado, vote as their names are called, whether 
the Arapahoe Republicans, county and floats, shall be seated, 
or whether these iniquitous frauds shall be condoned. Thus and 
thus only can they show the people of Colorado that they have 
neither part, nor lot, nor sympathy with any deal or fusion 
with Democracy. 

Or, better still : Let the thirty-four Republicans of the House 
meet at once in caucus and determine by a majority vote their 
action upon these contests. Notwithstanding the unjust and un- 
fair treatment of which they have been subjected, I knoio that 
the seventeen Republicans who have voted without affiliations 
with Democracy, will enter to-day into such a caucus to save our 
party the degradation that otherwise awaits us. We can know 
no more on Monday than we now know about these frauds. Every 
member has had for days before him a synopsis of the evidence. 
For the sake of our principles and our party, I beg every Re- 
publican to lend his aid to bringing about such a caucus or 
conference. 

Unless between now and Monday the thirty-four Republican 
members of the House reach some agreement to act in unity, 
a Democrat will be elected to the Senate for six years, from 
Colorado, a Republican State. If it happens we make ourselves 
a by-word and a reproach among our fellow-Republicans through- 
out the land. In the heat and bitterness of faction, we may not 
realize the crime against our party which is about to be per- 
petuated; but when the smoke and dust of this conspiracy shall 
be cleared away, every Republican in the State, whatever his 
present affiliations, will bow his head in grief and humiliation. 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 307 

Between now and Monday every member of the party in the 
State can do something, by letter or telegram or personal ex- 
postulation, to prevent giving over our party again to the Democ- 
racy. I make this appeal, believe me, animated by no personal 
interest, but solely by an earnest desire that the party shall 
not be dishonored. 

I have no criticisms or denunciations or a harsh word or 
thought toward anybody. We have, as a party in Colorado, 
passed through enough vicissitudes and suffered sufficient injury 
by fusion with Democracy. We love our State and are devoted 
to its interests. We believe its welfare to be forever inter- 
woven with the welfare of the Republican party; and we need, 
as never before, representation in the Senate at Washington in 
sympathy with Republican ideals and principles. 

Unless prompt and united action is taken by every true Re- 
publican, there will be inscribed at the State House next week 
a darker page in the political history of our beloved State than 
any that has yet been written. 

Edward O. Wolcott. 

Denver, January 16, 1903. 

The Committee on Elections lost little time in reporting. 
The Democratic members of the Committee took position 
against all displacements. One of the Republican members 
recommended the unseating of all of the Arapahoe Demo- 
crats, regular and float, and of one Democratic member from 
Las Animas County and a float member representing Las 
Aminas, Baca, and Bent counties. The other four Republican 
members of the committee united in recommendations for 
the removal of the four float members and one regular mem- 
ber from Arapahoe and of the regular and float members 
from Las Animas whose right to their seats had been 
questioned. 

As the more extreme suggestion of the individual 
member included the recommendation of the other four 
Republicans, there was a majority for the displacement of 
seven Democrats by as many Republicans. But, notwith- 
standing the limited recommendation of the four moderate 
Republicans, when a vote was reached on the report, they 
joined with the more extreme member and cast their ballots 
in favor of the displacement of seventeen Democrats. Such 
a course had been expected to insure the success of the plans 



308 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

of Mr. Wolcott's friends. But here they met with an un- 
expected obstacle. Three Mexican members from some of 
the southern counties, who had been acting with the Repub- 
licans, switched suddenly about and cast their votes with 
the Democrats against ousting any of the eleven Democrats 
representing Arapahoe County proper. They aided in the 
displacement of the four Arapahoe floats and of the regular 
and float members from Las Animas County, thus reducing 
the Democratic representation in the House to twenty-five 
members and increasing the Republican representation to 
forty members. With the Senate standing twenty-four 
Democrats to eleven Republicans, the removal of the six 
Democratic members of the House gave the Republicans fifty- 
one members, or a majority of two on joint ballot. The 
Democratic Senators immediately retaliated by removing 
two of the Republican Senators, thus reversing the condition 
and giving the Democrats fifty-one as against the Republi- 
cans' forty-nine members. 

The action of the Senate in removing two of its members, 
against whom, but for the partisan conflict, there would have 
been no such proceeding, was severely criticised, and Lieu- 
tenant-Governor Haggot, who had been elected on the same 
ticket with Governor Peabody, refused to recognize Demo- 
crats to make motions connected with a contest case. This 
refusal had the effect of causing the Democratic Senators 
to take into their own hands the Senatorial organization. 
The Republicans continued to assemble under the leadership 
of the Lieutenant-Governor, and for a time there were two 
Senates doing business in the same chamber. There was 
much talk of displacing other Democratic Representatives, 
but these threats were met by the announced determination of 
the Democrats to oust a Republican Senator for every House 
Democrat that might be turned out. On this account, and 
because of the danger of physical hostilities, a truce was 
tacitly agreed to, and no further steps toward the elimina- 
tion of members had been taken when, Tuesday, January 
20th, the day fixed for the beginning of balloting for United 
States Senator, arrived. 

On that date, the House and the two Senates cast their 
votes for Senator. Senator Teller received all but one of 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 309 

the Democratic votes, and Mr. Wolcott the larger share 
of the Republican votes. Immediately after this ballot, 
on motion of an anti-Wolcott Representative, the House pre- 
cipitately adjourned for three days. This step was avow- 
edly taken to permit the Senate to adjust its differences; 
but it was in contravention of the Federal law requiring 
a joint session of the two Houses on the day following a 
vote by the individual Houses in the election of a Senator. 
In accordance with this requirement of the law, the twenty- 
five House Democrats met the next day, Wednesday, January 
21st, in connection with the Senate, when a joint ballot was 
taken for Senator. All of the twenty-six Democratic Sen- 
ators and the twenty-five Democratic members were neces- 
sary to constitute a quorum. Mr. Teller received the votes 
of fifty of the fifty-one members present, but as they were 
not equal to a majority of the entire Legislature in joint 
assembly, no election took place at the first sitting. The 
joint meetings were continued until January 24th, when, all 
the Democrats being present and all voting for Mr. Teller, 
he was declared elected as his own successor. 

No Republican member of the Legislature had taken part 
in the joint convention, and some of the disappointed as- 
pirants for the Senate, raising the point that the proceed- 
ings had been irregular, threatened a contest before the 
United States Senate. Mr. Wolcott was not one of these. 
On the contrary, he took the position that with a quorum 
present and the law observed, the election had been strictly 
legal. Indeed, immediately after the joint sessions began, 
he had told his friends that an election by the organization 
would be in accordance with law, and he frequently warned 
the Republican members that they were throwing away their 
opportunity. Now, with the election consummated, he issued 
a formal statement of his views. 

The publication of this pronunciamento had the effect 
of quieting all talk of contest, and terminated the conten- 
tion. Acquainted with the law and familiar with Senate 
precedents, Mr. Wolcott understood perfectly that when the 
Republicans consented to an adjournment over the period 
prescribed for the election of a Senator they opened the 
door for just what happened, which was the unopposed 



310 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

election of a Democrat. He knew that, whatever the charges 
in connection with the election of members of the Colorado 
House of Representatives, the United States Senate would 
not attempt to go behind the action of the Legislature, as 
it was in accord with the legal requirements. Still, there 
might have been an excuse for creating temporary annoy- 
ance at Washington, and a man of smaller calibre might 
have availed himself of it. Not so Ed Wolcott. He was 
more anxious to bring peace and quiet to the State and 
to restore its good name abroad than he was to keep himself 
before the public or to annoy any one. Therefore, while 
condemning the processes leading up to the result, he ad- 
vised acquiescence in it and absolved his former colleague 
from all responsibility even for those processes. The ad- 
vice was followed. Those who had criticised the proceeding- 
were guided by Wolcott's superior wisdom, and soon ceased 
their complaints. 

But, while Mr. Wolcott acknowledged the regularity of 
Mr. Teller's election and refused sanction to any movement 
against him, he waged sharp and unrelenting warfare on his 
own opponents. Unquestionably there had been palpable 
frauds in the Arapahoe election, and there is no doubt that 
the Democratic legislative candidates profited by them. If, on 
the other hand, Republican legislative candidates had received 
benefit from similar proceedings elsewhere, as was alleged, 
Mr. Wolcott had not been a party to the frauds nor even 
cognizant of them. If the Republican members of the House 
had made a determined and whole-hearted fight for the seat- 
ing of the Republican contestants, the result might have been 
different. At any rate, it would have been more satisfying 
to Mr. Wolcott's sense of proper political warfare, for he 
was ever ready to decide the rights of a question by combat. 
But the attitude of the anti-Wolcott members was known of 
all men. They were willing, even anxious, that the House 
should be Republican if unfavorable to Wolcott; not other- 
wise. Many of them preferred the election of a Demo- 
crat to the Senate. Hence they were without zeal, and 
their course was faltering and uncertain, if not treacherous, 
as was shown in their action with reference to the report of 
the contest committee. 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 311 

It would be too much to say that Senator Wolcott was 
not disappointed by the result of the action of the Legis- 
lature. He felt grievously hurt, but not because of any 
sordid ambition of his own. While for many reasons he 
would have been gratified to receive another election to the 
Senate, his heart was not set absolutely upon a return to 
office. He had enjoyed all the honors that could be ex- 
pected to come through service in the Senate, and notwith- 
standing a laudable ambition to improve upon his already 
enviable record, he would have been reasonably content to 
retire if his defeat had been brought about by the usual 
methods. It was the manner of the proceeding quite as 
much as the result that met his condemnation. Time and 
again he had said that, compared with the triumph of his 
party, his own success was of comparatively little importance. 
But to be beaten by a member of the opposition as a result 
of the machinations of Republicans — that was a little too 
much for human nature to endure with equanimity. He had 
labored long and against unusual odds to redeem his party 
in Colorado, and with redemption attained it was hard to 
have the party as well as himself deprived of all the fruits 
of victory — a victory which he believed to have been won 
indisputably. With the supremacy of Republicanism re- 
established, he had anticipated that there would be other 
aspirants for the Senate. He had clearly foreseen the prob- 
ability of rivalry in Republican ranks, and while, of course, 
he would have enjoyed a spontaneous general movement for 
his election, he understood human nature too well to expect it. 
He knew his own disposition and appreciated it to be of the 
kind that creates enmities. Had he not said a year before 
that in the day of triumph he would be a rock of offence? 
His attitude in 1901 was correctly outlined in a newspaper 
interview, and it had not changed in 1903. In that inter- 
view he said : 

It would be premature and idle to say I would not accept 
an office that may never be tendered me, and that office the 
highest Colorado can bestow; but I am in no sense an aspirant 
for the Senate. Colorado has rewarded me far beyond my de- 
serts, and I shall be wholly content to spend the remainder of 



312 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

my life as a citizen of Colorado, devoting myself to her advance- 
ment, and seeking always the triumph, in the State and nation, 
of Republican principles, under which alone we have ever achieved 
prosperity. 

Controlled by sentiments of such magnanimity, Mr. Wol- 
cott naturally was disappointed to meet no reciprocal feel- 
ing from the opposing faction in his party, and especially 
was he chagrined by the discovery that personal ambition 
and resentment should cause such a schism as to bring 
about the election of a Democrat. He saw then how deep 
had been the plot, the carrying into effect of which had 
been begun by enticing him away from the State in 1902 
and terminated by the betrayal, not of himself only, but 
of the party as well. The iron sank deep into his soul, 
and it is not impossible that it remained there as long as 
he lived. 

Mr. Woleott's statement was a general review of the 
campaign, as follows: 

To the Republicans of Colorado: 

The seed sown on the opening day of the legislative session 
has borne its certain fruit. The inevitable has happened, and 
the conspiracy entered into between a few Republicans and 
the Democracy has brought the only result possible, the elec- 
tion of a Democratic United States Senator from Colorado. 
The terms of the fusion or deal are unimportant; they will 
some day be fully exposed, and the degradation and dishonor 
that have come to the party in the Senatorial election indi- 
cate the heavy price the Republican conspirators paid for the 
coalition. 

When the Legislature met there was but one question pre- 
sented, Should the fifteen members and float members from 
Arapahoe County be unseated? The evidence of fraud was over- 
whelming and conclusive. Every honest man in the State knew 
that the facts not only justified but required the unseating of 
these Democrats. Even when four of the five fusion Republican 
members of the Elections Committee of the House reported against 
unseating eleven of them, they dared not face the people of the 
State in a direct vote, and so the help of " the three Mexicans," 
nominally Republicans, but who by the terms of their agree- 
ment of adhesion waived all scruples that other men might 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 313 

entertain, came to the rescue and, making with the Democrats 
a majority of the House, insured the retention of the fraudu- 
lently elected members, and permitted the other fusionists to 
vote in favor of the unseating. The refusal to unseat these 
Arapahoe County members was a crime against the Republican 
party, and against justice, and was the second exposure of the 
terms of this wicked deal. 

The law, Federal and State, required the two Houses to vote 
separately for Senator on the 20th of this month, and thereafter 
each day at noon, in joint session. No member of the Legisla- 
ture can fulfil his duty to the State and the nation without 
compliance with this law. On the 21st of the month, before 
twelve o'clock, a fusion Republican member moved an adjourn- 
ment of the House until two o'clock on the 23d. It was a pal- 
pable trick. Protests from the real Republicans were unheeded, 
and being finally informed that it was the Governor's wish, and 
might save possible violence, they consented, and, the Democrats 
voting aye, the motion was unanimously carried. On both the 
22d and the 23d the Democratic members of the House notwith- 
standing they had voted to adjourn, met in joint session and 
balloted for Senator. Yet on the 23d and 24th, when the trick- 
ery of the motion had been made apparent, the same member 
of the fusion party again moved an adjournment until the 25th 
at ten o'clock, and then until the 26th, and in spite of the votes 
and objections of the Republicans, twenty-two in number, the 
motion again, with Democratic votes, was carried. On Satur- 
day, the 24th, as everybody knows, fifty-one Democrats voted in 
joint session for Mr. Teller, no Republican having voted at any 
joint session. This was the third demonstration of the corrupt 
deal. 

On Wednesday evening at eight o'clock, the General Assembly 
consisted of fifty-one Republicans and forty-nine Democrats. At 
that hour the Senate by a motion, put by its chief clerk, 
unseated, without argument or hearing or evidence, two Repub- 
lican members lawfully holding their seats. The Lieutenant- 
Governor, the presiding officer of the Senate, acting with courage 
and patriotism, refused to put this revolutionary motion, and, 
assured by his associates in the State government of their 
approval and support, sought to protect the legally elected Sen- 
ators from this action, and, by steps justifiable and, if properly 
supported, legal, presided over the organization of a Republican 
Senate composed of nineteen members— the support of which the 
Lieutenant-Governor was assured, fell away from him. There was 



314 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

still left the House, which, if it promptly recognized the Repub- 
lican Senate, might with it constitute a valid and legal General 
Assembly. This recognition was sought for in vain. On the 
23d and 24th the Republican members notified their associates, 
who were allied with the Democracy, of their readiness and 
desire to recognize the Republican Senate. This was refused 
them by their fusion associates, who insisted, instead, on voting 
with Democrats for adjournment. This constitutes the fourth 
link in the absolute proof of the terms of the deal or combination. 

There were three joint sessions of the General Assembly. At 
the last one fifty-one Democrats voted for Mr. Teller. No other 
joint sessions have been held, and no Republican has voted in 
any joint session. The election of Mr. Teller is tinctured with 
fraud; first in the trickery of the adjournment by the Democrats 
of the House; second, in the arbitrary and fraudulent expulsion 
of two legally elected Senators. There is, however, for the rea- 
sons given above, now no other legally constituted Senate, as 
there might have been but for this conspiracy, and it is now too 
late to undo the wrong, and by unseating the fraudulently elected 
members from Arapahoe County insure the valid election of a 
Republican Senator. 

The welfare of the State requires that there shall be no 
possible question or doubt as to the legal status of the two 
legislative bodies. Important laws are to be passed, moneys 
must be lawfully paid, our public institutions must be protected, 
and out State credit preserved. Wicked and unforgivable as is 
the wrong done the Republican party, yet from the point of 
view of the highest citizenship, there is but one thing to be 
done, and that is for the people to accept the deplorable situa- 
tion, and for the Governor of the State to issue a certificate of 
election to Mr. Teller. It is enough that we are disgraced at 
home. The State needs the help of our Senators at Washington 
in countless ways for the upbuilding of Colorado, and we should 
not, if it can be helped, throw doubts upon their title to repre- 
sent us. It is important also that this Assembly should be able 
to devote its time to proper legislative work, and not be further 
occupied by quarrels over the Senatorship. It is most desirable 
also, for the public morals, that the professional boodle brokers, 
those foul birds that hover over the Legislature looking for 
corruption, representing men whose ambitions or desire for re- 
venge lead them to expenditure of money to debauch votes, 
should transfer their field of action to some more promising 
spot. 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 315 

The above is a fair and true statement of the situation. Sen- 
ator Teller is in no sense a party to the frauds, while he is 
the beneficiary of them. He has served Colorado for nearly a 
generation at Washington, and whatever may be our regret 
that he no longer marches in the ranks of the party that has 
so highly honored him, every citizen of the State wishes him 
health and strength, and believes that he is single-minded in 
his devotion to the material interests of the State. 

The Republicans of Colorado have passed through many 
vicissitudes, and have faced overwhelming defeat; but always be- 
fore at the hands of an open enemy. We have never walked as 
deep in the valley of humiliation as to-day; but after the dark- 
ness comes the dawn. All honor to the Republican members 
of the House who stood firm for party and principle and 
whose skirts are clear of Democratic taint! All honor to the 
Republican members of the Senate, and their party associates 
who left their homes and came here ready to act at the call 
of duty! The great mass of Republicans in the State are be- 
ginning to understand the situation and the party treachery of 
which many of even the fusion Republican members were the 
dupes. The lesson of to-day will not be lost, and the party, 
purified and strengthened, will guard forever hereafter against 
the presence of traitors in its citadel. 

For myself I have not the slightest sense of personal disap- 
pointment, nor do I cherish rancor toward anybody. My first 
vote was cast in Colorado more than thirty years ago. I was 
a Republican then, and have been since. I was a Republican in 
'96. I am a Republican in 1903, and shall always remain a 
Colorado Republican. I have an abiding and indestructible faith 
in the principles and teachings of the party, and in the wisdom 
and fairness and judgment of its members in Colorado. In this 
hour of party shame and humiliation, I see in the heavens only 
the day-star of hope. 

Edward O. Wolcott. 
Denver, Colorado, 

January 25, 1903. 

During the exciting days of this campaign, Mr. Wolcott 
was interviewed by a special writer of the Denver Post. 
The occasion of the publication was the printing of a card 
by Philip B. Stewart, in which Mr. Wolcott was severely 
attacked. Mr. Stewart was on terms of personal friendship 
with President Roosevelt, and the fact that he was making 



316 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

a vigorous fight upon Mr. Wolcott led many to conclude that 
the President himself was opposed to Wolcott's re-election. 
Stewart appeared willing to allow this impression to pre- 
vail, but Mr. Wolcott met the intimation with a denial. " It 
is not," he said, " the province of a President to interfere in 
State politics, and President Roosevelt is too wise a man 
and too just and honorable an official to overstep the pro- 
scribed bounds — and this in spite of any assertion of Mr. 
Stewart to the contrary." 

Then the Senator spoke of the charge that he had left 
the State during the last campaign, saying : 

I was never a coward but once in my life, and that was when, 
at the solicitation of the party managers, I left the State last 
fall. I wish to God I had not gone. It was a great mistake. But 
when Mr. Stewart is assailing me in regard to this, he should 
remember that two years ago, when I am accused of defeating 
the ticket, I had the very active assistance of both President 
Roosevelt and Senator Lodge here in the State. More, he for- 
gets — or probably does not know — that the proportionate growth 
of Republican votes in the past two years is not as great as 
during the two preceding years. 

The interviewer dwelt upon the difficulty of reproducing 
Mr. Wolcott's language and manner, among other things, 
saying : 

After a lengthy interview I came away sure of just two 
things: One was, that I had met a man who was the very in- 
carnation of force, and the other, that nothing short of a com- 
bination electric dynamo and phonograph could ever catch and 
retain his exact language. 

To me he seems positive to the point of brutality and most 
arbitrary, but tremendously in earnest, alert, keen, scintillatingly 
brilliant, and wonderfully magnetic. To a vocabulary of un- 
rivalled richness, he brings a clear, incisive mind, a wide knowl- 
edge of men and affairs, and a sonorous voice of great capacity 
and infinite variation. It is a pleasure to listen to him, but 
purgatory to try to report him. 



SUPREMACY REGAINED 

MR. WOLCOTT'S loss of control of political affairs in 
Colorado was not of long duration. He was again 
" in the saddle/' having regained the mastery which 
he had lost as a result of his absence from the State, and 
by the time the next State convention was held he was 
as strong as ever he had been, showing that only a little 
attention of the right kind at the proper time would keep 
him in control as long as he might care to so remain. 

There was a campaign in the fall of 1903 for the elec- 
tion of a Justice of the State Supreme Court, and the con- 
vention for the nomination of a candidate was held in Denver 
September 29th of that year — only about eight months after 
the failure of the Republican members of the Legislature 
to get together for the election of a Senator. Mr. Wolcott 
was present as a delegate and was chosen to preside over 
the convention. Of the seventeen Republican members of 
the House of Representatives who had supported him, four- 
teen were present as delegates, while only one of the oppos- 
ing members appeared in that capacity. All the nine 
Senators who stood with Wolcott were delegates. His 
friends were in charge everywhere. Mr. Wolcott was given 
a flattering reception when he entered the hall, and the 
demonstration was still more pronounced when he was pro- 
posed for Chairman. 

To Mrs. Anthony, a well-known Denver writer of the 
day who used the pen-name of " Polly Pry," we owe a 
graphic picture of Mr. Wolcott's reception on this occasion. 

317 



318 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Mrs. Anthony revelled in the breezy language of the plains, 
and her method of dealing Avith men and affairs was original 
rather than conventional. Here is her story of this event; 

The Republican State Convention, which nominated Judge 
John Campbell to succeed himself on the supreme bench, was the 
occasion for Mr. Wolcott's reappearance upon the political stage 
last Tuesday morning, and likewise the occasion for a Wolcott 
demonstration which gave the celebrated Fairley-Stewart-Brooks 
faction a dose of knock-out drops that laid them low — at least 
for a spell. 

" Wolcott as a political factor is dead — as dead as a pickled 
mackerel," a sapient politician had remarked as we wended our 
way toward Twenty-second and Arapahoe that morning. 

" Requiescat in pace ! " I murmured devoutly, looking at 
him admiringly and wondering how on earth he managed to 
stagger under all he knew. 

Then we plunged into the vestibule of that Black Hole of 
Calcutta, misnamed East Turner Hall, and a few minutes later, 
triumphant but somewhat breathless, were mopping the perspira- 
tion from our classic brows and trying to talk against the rag- 
time rackets of the band. 

Everybody was present and accounted for, including Presi- 
dent Roosevelt's " old college chum," Mr. Philip B. Stewart, and 
Archie Stevenson, he of the Hyperion curls, the bland smile, and 
the witty tongue, when Chairman Fairley rapped for order. Then 
a man came in, passed hurriedly through the crowd about the 
door, walked half-way up the centre aisle, and took a seat with 
the Arapahoe County delegation. 

" Hip-hip-hurrah ! " shouted the Denver delegation. " Yip-yip- 
yip ! " came the old familiar Twombly yell, and " Yip-yip-e-ip ! " 
chortled the mavericks from Huerfano County, while Saguache 
chimed in with a " Wa-wa-wa-woop-ee ! " that could be heard a 
mile. 

" Wolcott ! Wolcott ! Wolcott ! " chorused the crowd, and the 
man who was deader than a " pickled mackerel " was escorted 
to the stage, where, accompanied by a continuous rumble of ap- 
plause, he gave an excellent imitation of a live person with 
something to say, and by no means averse to making the fact 
public. 

For a man who has been reported as among the " politically 
dead " so many times, and tommyhawked, knifed, double-crossed, 
and solar-plexed, he certainly is a warm member. 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 319 

In ringing tones and with beautiful hyperbole he pictured 
the ends and aims of the Republican party, extolled Republican 
principles, and denounced Republican backsliders, Fusionists, 
and traitors. With the tremolo stop turned on full, he pleaded 
for harmony and a Republican victory, ending with a scathing 
denunciation of the political boycott and a stinging arraignment 
of the political hucksters who claim to own and undertake to 
peddle party patronage through personal friendship with men 
high in power. 

Mrs. Anthony also supplies the following estimate of the 
Colorado orator : 

It is said, among other things, of Edward O. Wolcott, that 
he is an ingrate, that he admits of no independence except his 
own; that he has no friends; that he himself has said that he 
recognizes only " slaves and enemies," and that he is selfish be- 
yond the understanding of the ordinary man. And yet, even so, 
with all of his faults he towers among Colorado Republicans 
like the Washington monument in a forest of telegraph poles. 

Because why? He is a big man, a great man — not alone in 
Colorado, but in Washington, in New York, London — where you 
will. There is no Padua with him ; it is all Rome. His reputa- 
tion is international, based upon sound money and conservative 
principles. He is the Political Nestor of the West, and whether 
he attains his ambition and returns to the United States Senate 
three years from now or not, his niche in the Temple of Fame 
is already secure. Colorado could not forget him — if she would. 

His speech on taking the chair was brilliant and effec- 
tive. Its keynote was harmony. But he did not spare those 
most responsible for the discord that had characterized the 
party in recent times. He was ironical and sarcastic re- 
garding the " amateurs who were led to burn their fingers 
by picking chestnuts from the fire for other people who 
ministered to their egotism"; and he was scathing in his 
indictment of the real instigators of the trouble. 

For himself, he was willing to surrender all responsibility 
and join the rank and file should it be so decreed ; and then 
he spoke of the dark days in Colorado and of the patriotism 
of the few soldiers who had stood fast; but leader and fol- 
lowers would go out were it for the benefit of the party. 



320 EDWAKD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

His tribute to the vanguard was in lofty measure, and before 
it had concluded the audience was cheering and shouting, 
causing a long interruption. 

The old leader's triumph was complete. Once more he 
was the party chieftain of undisputed right, and the party 
was overjoyed to have him in his old place. He had com- 
pletely re-established himself. 

Again, at a banquet given by the Republican Club of 
Denver, on Lincoln's Birthday in 1904, he received another 
strong assurance of undiminished popularity. A newspaper 
chronicler of the time furnishes this account of that 
occasion : 

When former Senator Wolcott arose to respond to the toast 
" Colorado," he was greeted with a great display of enthusiasm. 
As soon as Toastmaster Dixon spoke the name of Wolcott, the 
audience arose to its feet and applauded. They gave three hearty 
cheers after he was introduced, and he was not permitted to 
go on until friendly and enthusiastic words of praise and en- 
couragement had been shouted to him from all over the hall. It 
was a reception to touch a leader's heart. As he proceeded, he 
warmed to his work and his terse, vigorous sentences followed 
each other quickly. He was greeted at every pause by cheers. 
There was no part of his speech that was not given entire ap- 
proval. The audience seemed anxious to assure him that he 
was its especial favorite and the ovation he received at the close 
of the address w;is a personal triumph. 

Also at the State convention in May, 1904, for the selec- 
tion of delegates to the Republican National Convention 
which was to be held at Chicago, he was in complete as- 
cendency. This was destined to be the last State conven- 
tion he should attend, and he again was chosen to act as 
Temporary Chairman, as he again was placed at the head 
of the delegation to attend the National Convention. He 
was in the best of form for this meeting and made a vigorous 
speech outlining the issues involved in the campaign and 
especially urging reform in the conduct of the official affairs 
of Denver. His associates as delegates were: Hon. James 
H. Peabody, Governor; A. M. Stevenson, Denver; Thomas 
F. Walsh, Ouray; N. Walter Dixon, Pueblo; Sylvester S. 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 321 

Downer, Boulder; John W. Springer, Denver; W. B. Miner, 
Fort Collins; Charles F. Caswell, Grand Junction, and 
Clyde C. Dawson, Canon City. 

That he had serious misgiving about attending the con- 
vention even after he was chosen to lead the delegation is 
shown in a letter to Mr. W. S. Boynton, of Colorado Springs, 
as follows: 

15 E. 48th St., N. Y., 
Monday, June 6, 1904. 
My Dear W. S. 

Two or three days ago I received Bailey's despatch, sent, I 
know, after consultation with you, saying that I should, he 
thought, by all means attend the convention at Chicago. I shall 
probably do as you think I should, although if we three were 
to talk it over, I doubt if you would so advise me. I have been 
here a fortnight, and for three fourths of the time, I have been 
in bed with a continuance of the same vicious attack of gout 
I had in Colorado, and I am not at all well and need the cure 
at Carlsbad. I won't go again into the embarrassments which 
will meet me in Chicago. . . . There is necessity for my keeping 
quiet, because if I said anything it would be in the nature of 
a criticism. I should have thought of all of these things before 
I accepted the election as delegate. But there is another feature 
that I have not written about and that is the certainty that 
my delay in starting (for I must go to Carlsbad after the con- 
vention) means my later return here and to Colorado. 

Perhaps nothing makes any difference. My friends tell Mr. 
Chisholm that unless I come back after the convention they fear 
the " Antis " will get control of the committee, and that our 
friends are thoroughly disheartened, etc. I can understand this 
and I think their fears are well founded. . . . 

My one desire has been to control the political situation 
because I thought we could serve Colorado better than the fac- 
tion that seeks to dominate the party. I have never, I think, 
been controlled by any personal desire for the Senatorship. Per- 
haps I am a stumbling block to success; if so I don't want to 
keep my personality prominent in the councils of the party. . . . 

I have been to two National Conventions; in one I nominated 
Blaine, and I presided over the other. In this one I must keep 
absolutely silent. . . . 

Just wire me that you have received this when you do. If 
a letter comes from you or Bailey, I will write one of you again. 



322 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

But, my friend, I still feel that I ought not to be at the con- 
vention, because I cannot help anybody, and the situation has 
only humiliation for me. However, I shall be there unless I 
am again laid up and am unable to leave my room. . . . 

Everything is dull here; I see hardly anybody and am alone 
in my rooms most of the time. 

Your friend, 
To E. O. W. 

Hon. W. S. Boynton, 

Colorado Springs, Colorado. 

Mr. Wolcott attended the National Convention, which was 
held at Chicago ; but he kept his word, and for the first time 
at such a gathering remained absolutely quiet. He was far 
from well, and the political embarrassments in his own party, 
growing out of his recent contest, had extended to figures 
prominent before the national assembly. Roosevelt was 
nominated for President. 

After the convention and just before sailing for Europe, 
Mr. Wolcott wrote to his friend, United States Marshal 
Bailey. His letter possesses a strongly personal tinge, but 
it throws so much light on his view of the Colorado political 
situation and especially on his state of mind generally that 

it is given : 

New York, June 25, 1904. 
Hon. D. C. Bailey, 
U. S. Marshal, 

Denver, Colorado. 
Dear Bailey : 

I have your letters, and better than all, I have received that 
photograph, which I was delighted to have and I shall always 
keep. 

The political situation in Colorado is deplorable. As I un- 
derstand it we have to sell the Denver Committee furniture to 
pay the unpaid debts of the last compaign. The enormous fund 
in control of our opponents, and the defection of former friends 
who want to hold on to their offices or get new ones will be 
too much for us in the State Committee. My chief anxiety is 
for you. . . . 

I have been very hard hit in financial matters recently, but 
there will always be enough, my friend, to keep the wolf from 
both our doors, and you shall not suffer if I can help it. Don't 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 323 

worry about the situation. I am unwilling to spend any more 
money, and I know that you would be unwilling to have me 
do so. It is of no use. We have already wasted thousands 
of dollars to make it possible for our enemies to control the 
situation. . . . 

If things go against us I shall not hurry back, but in any 
event shall return early in September and shall remain some 
time at Wolhurst, where you and I will have some happy hours 
I hope. 

As things have turned out, I should not go abroad if I 
did not believe it necessary that I take a cure at Carlsbad. I 
go away of course depressed over the situation, but neither you 
nor I have anything to reproach ourselves with. 

I trust you will write me sometimes, and with all good wishes 
and sincere regards, as always, 

Your friend, 

Edw. O. Wolcott. 

LAST VISIT TO COLORADO 

After the National Convention, Mr. Wolcott was com- 
pelled to go to Europe on account of his poor health, and 
he did not return to Colorado until the latter part of the 
following October. In the meantime the State convention 
for the nomination of State officers had been held, Governor 
Peabody had been placed at the head of the ticket for the 
second time, and the campaign was well under way when 
on the 24th of that month he reached Denver for a visit 
of brief duration. Mr. Peabody's administration had been 
marked by a great activity on the part of the Western 
Federation of Miners and by many disputes and even con- 
flicts on account of labor troubles, and altogether had been 
far from peaceful. In a brief interview given during his 
stay in Denver, the ex-Senator said: 

I have just returned from New York, where I find the most 
intense interest is being taken in the result of the Colorado 
election. It seems incomprehensible that the Governor of Colo- 
rado should not be supported in the determined stand he has 
taken on behalf of law and order in the State. 

It seems to me of the greatest possible importance that good 
citizens should support the Republican ticket. No matter what 



324 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

individual grievances may exist, or however much we may differ 
on other matters, the welfare of the State requires that the 
course of the chief executive during the last two years shall 
be vindicated at the polls. 

Mr. Wolcott made but one speech in the campaign of 
1904. It was delivered at Coliseum Hall to a packed and 
enthusiastic audience on November 7th, the night before 
election. 

In this contest the principal State issue was Governor 
Peabody's controversy with the Western Federation of 
Miners, which organization was charged with responsibility 
for many atrocities committed in the State, and the cam- 
paign was a bitter one. Mr. Wolcott devoted much attention 
to the organization, which he denounced vigorously and 
fearlessly. His speech had little of the stirring oratory 
which usually characterized his campaign addresses. It w r as 
a closely reasoned argument such as he was accustomed to 
give in court-rooms and was a clear, measured, and convin- 
cing statement of facts showing how law and human rights 
had been ignored and vindicating the repressive efforts of 
the State government. The last part was the more effective 
because of the self-restraint manifested. He explained his 
reason for not taking part in the campaign, and closed with 
a beautiful tribute to Colorado, whose future he pictured in 
rainbow hues. His explanation of his failure to participate 
in the campaign was a frank avowal of his dread of the 
criticism which he knew his appearance would arouse, and 
was as follows: 

I am touched by this cordial and kindly reception, and I 
feel moved to make but one personal explanation. It is that 
the reason I have not participated more early in the campaign 
has been solely because, though I do not count my years as old, 
I have become weary to death of personal abuse, vituperation, 
and slander. 

This abuse has followed me since '96, and while it does not 
keep me awake at night, it yet makes me feel that there are times 
when the post of honor is the private station, and I can say to 
you that I have no political enemy attacked by vituperation and 
slander, and no political friend similarly attacked, that my feel- 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 325 

ing toward them is not kindlier and warmer when attacks are 
made upon their private character. 

We have more of personal abuse in Colorado, I fear, than in 
most of the States, and while for the moment it meets the pas- 
sions that partisanship engenders, in the end it lowers the moral 
tone and degrades the community which endures and tolerates it. 

The meeting was the last political demonstration in 
which Senator Wolcott ever participated. The campaign 
resulted in a victory in the State for Roosevelt and Fair- 
banks on the National ticket, but on the face of the returns 
Alva Adams, Democrat, was elected Governor. The Legis- 
lature w r as Republican, however, and he was unseated on an 
allegation of fraud. His antagonist, Peabody, was not given 
the place, but it was awarded to Jesse F. McDonald, one 
of the State Senators who had been deposed during the 
legislative entanglement of 1903, and who in the fall of 
189-1, had been elected Lieutenant-Governor on the Republi- 
can ticket, 

WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN 

There can be little question that if Mr. Wolcott had 
lived and had retained his health, he would have returned to 
the Senate. While in Denver in the fall of 1904, he told 
his friends that he would be in the race to succeed Mr. 
Patterson in 1907, and with his hold upon the party leader- 
ship re-established, as it most securely was, the prospect of 
success was flattering. Still, there were many ugly com- 
plications, and that he had full appreciation of them is in- 
dicated by his letters to personal friends during this period. 
But in the main he then looked forward with some eagerness 
to the contest. He was more anxious to return to the 
Senate than he had been in 1901. Then his first concern 
had been for party success. But he had not at that time 
experienced the bitter personal assaults from inside his own 
party organization that were made upon him and upon his 
friends in the fight of 1903, and he felt all the generous 
impulses of the strong man who has done a great thing. He 
was willing, as are all big men under such circumstances, 
to share the reward with others or even to entirely divert 



326 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

it from himself. Now it was different. Not only he, but 
his friends had been attacked. He had been persuaded to 
turn his back to his foes and to leave the State in the con- 
test of 1902, the first time he ever had submitted to such 
humiliation, and we have seen how deeply he regretted his 
course. He expressed himself frankly to this effect in his 
speech of November 18th, and privately he was even more 
emphatic. In conversation with friends he was full of self- 
condemnation for permitting himself to be influenced as he 
was, and at such times would complain bitterly that he had 
allowed any one to make " a renegade " of him. He re- 
sented also the criticisms directed against his friends in 
public life. While he did not grudge full membership and 
high position to any of the Republicans who had been led 
away by the sentiment in the interest of silver, he did resent 
the strictures of some of the returning members of the party 
upon those who had remained faithful in the days of 
adversity. 

He had still another reason for desiring election at this 
time. His intimate personal friend, Grant B. Schley, of 
New York, told the writer that it was Mr. Wolcott's ambi- 
tion to go back to the Senate and show what he really was 
capable of by giving more serious and closer attention to 
public affairs than ever he had given. 

He had been promised, even before asking, the enthusiastic 
support of " the Old Guard," and many new friends, both in 
and out of the State and in and out of the Republican party, 
had told him that they would do all they could to assist. 

He was to go abroad, regain his health, recoup his for- 
tune, and come back and make such a fight as never before 
had been made in the State. But, alas, he soon was to en- 
counter a foe more obdurate and more unrelenting than 
even Fusion candidates or party opponents! 



LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH 

SENATOR WOLCOTT'S last speech, the one made at 
the Denver Coliseum November 7, 1904, proved his 
undoing. He had been indisposed with a cold when 
he went to the meeting, but his condition was not in the 
slightest degree alarming. 

As always, when the Senator spoke, his whole being was 
launched into the effort; voice and gesture were vigorous 
and emphatic. The occasion aroused every faculty of the 
man. Not only was he at his best intellectually, but the 
emotions were stirred by the recollection of past experiences 
in the great hall. It had been the scene both of trial 
and triumph; he had spoken there in '96. When he took 
the platform he was tremendously in earnest. He spoke 
with much vehemence, which necessarily involved great phy- 
sical effort. In the hall, packed to suffocation and poorly 
ventilated at best, the heat was oppressive, and, after speak- 
ing under such trying conditions, he left the platform super- 
heated and somewhat exhausted. The weather was bitterly 
cold, and despite the advice of friends, he insisted on walk- 
ing to his apartments in Glenarm Street. 

That night he was taken with a chill, and by next day 
bronchitis had developed. With his customary indifference, 
he at first paid little attention to the attack. Some days in 
bed under care of doctor and nurse for the time averted 
pneumonia, but the bronchitis was still severe and trouble- 
some. He did not improve sufficiently to satisfy his phy- 
sicians, and a decision was reached that he should seek 
a lower altitude and a milder climate. Henry also was in- 
disposed, and the brothers determined upon another journey 
across the water in search of health, each going, as he 

327 



328 EDWAKD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

thought, largely for the benefit of the other. There were 
times when Ed realized his own condition, while at others 
he spoke lightly of his sickness and freely discussed the 
advisability of beginning preparation for the next Senatorial 
campaign, which his friends fully expected him to enter as 
a candidate. Not even Henry fully appreciated the dan- 
gerous possibilities of his brother's attack. He knew, how- 
ever, that for a year or two Ed had been far from well, and 
was generally apprehensive about him. He was sufficiently 
alarmed by the symptoms to determine upon removal to a 
lower altitude. 

But while it is true that the cold and the Coliseum 
meeting doubtless were the immediate cause of Mr. Wol- 
cott's collapse, other reasons also must be sought, and they 
are easily found. In part at least, he was the victim of 
adverse conditions and unjust criticism. His spirit was 
weakened by the repeated personal aspersions of the press 
and the politicians, and there is little doubt that this fact 
had much to do with his ultimate breakdown. He would 
not have succumbed so easily five years previous. It is 
doubtful whether he cared so much to live as formerly. If 
the world was entirely without gratitude, and if one could 
succeed only by deserting one's friends, what was there to 
live for? Very little for Ed Wolcott ! 

By November 22d, following the Coliseum meeting, Sen- 
ator Wolcott had recovered sufficiently to justify his removal 
to New York. But he did not long remain there. The 
weather was bleak and harsh, and his bronchitis was so 
much aggravated, that, after a stay of six weeks, another 
change was decided upon, and by January 7, 1905, the two 
brothers found themselves aboard the Deutschland, bound 
for the Mediterranean. It was their last voyage together. 
Ed did not return. In the early evening of the 1st of March 
the news of his death was flashed under the seas from far- 
away Monaco. 

Before leaving New York, Mr. Wolcott wrote a letter to 
his brother William, probably the last to any member of 
the family before his departure. It was dated January 3d, 
and in it he said that it was the intention that he and 
Henry should sail for Cairo via Naples on the following 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTEK 329 

Saturday, " to be gone three months or so." He made only 
slight reference to his physical condition. Saying that both 
he and Henry needed a journey and a change of climate, he 
added : " I rarely go down-town, for I have not been very 
well lately, being troubled with a rather persistent bron- 
chitis." His brother had notified him that he had sent him 
a Christmas present, which evidently had been directed to 
a down-town address, and he expressed anxiety to get it 
before leaving. 

The original intention of going to Egypt was changed 
en route. The brothers decided to stop at Naples and not 
to continue to the region of the Nile. An unfortunate 
choice; that winter was the worst Southern Italy had ex- 
perienced for thirty years. They next tried Palermo, in 
Sicily; Palermo was unbearable — cold, bleak, comfortless. 

Ed's condition grew worse. He developed more serious 
bronchial trouble, and upon the advice of eminent physicians 
decided to go to Southern France. Choice lighted upon 
Monte Carlo in the Mediterranean as being the best cal- 
culated of all places to coax back health through climate. 
Here, with Henry, he established himself soon after the 1st 
of February at the Hotel de Paris, and there remained until 
the end came a month later. 

The last letter of any length from Senator Wolcott, and 
unquestionably the last utterance by him on Colorado poli- 
tics, was written to United States Marshal Dewey C. 
Bailey, from Palermo, January 31, 1905, a short month and 
a day before the end. The letter was in Mr. Wolcott's own 
handwriting, and he appeared quite broken in spirit. But 
there was the same contention for honest politics that so 
often had been heard by his friends. It also contained the 
assurance that his finances, which of late had been running 
down, were now improving. The letter reads : 

Grand Hotel des Palmes, 

Enrico Ragusa, Prop., 

Palermo. 

Tuesday, January 31st. 
Dear Dewey : 

... If anything could make me well again at once, it would 
be yonr interesting and entertaining letter of the 15th, which has 



330 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

just reached me here. I was delighted to get it. The fact is 
that I have been pretty sick; I have never fully got over the 
attack of bronchitis I got in Denver, and in New York I did not 
take any sort of care of myself. I have, however, taken more 
care ever since I sailed. But a slight cold gave me a very 
bad attack, and I have been in bed here for a week. 

Henry went on to Rome and Albert [Ed's valet] and I have 
fought it out together. It has been rather dismal, but I am 
getting a good deal better and hope to get away from here by 
the last of the week. If I am well enough I will go to Cannes, 
or somewhere in the south of France for a little time, and I '11 
be coming home before long. . . . 

Away down in my heart, but this is to you alone, I have n't 
the slightest idea that I shall enter another Senatorial race. 
But it is good to feel that those of us who have always stood 
together, still stand for honest politics and do not seek to jus- 
tify wrong-doing by the fact that our enemies did wrong at 
prior elections. . . . 

I know that you will be glad to know that things are com- 
ing right with me again. There are still many holes to fill, 
and I am by no means back where I used to be, but there 's 
enough. . . . 

I haven't seen an American newspaper for weeks, and am 
three days from London papers, so I cannot keep much track 
of what is going on at home. 

I think often of you and am very glad when you find time 
to write. 

With best wishes, as always, 

Your friend, 



Edw. O. Wolcott. 



To 

Hon. Dewey C. Bailey, 
United States Marshal, 
Denver, Colorado. 



When they reached Monte Carlo Senator Wolcott was 
not regarded by the physicians as seriously ill. Ever vigor- 
ous in movement, he mingled with the crowd and seemed 
even then stronger than most men. He drove considerably, 
patronized the amusements when so inclined, and seldom 
referred to his physical condition. He suffered greatly from 
a severely irritating bronchial cough, but for a time after 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 331 

liis arrival this trouble improved. Indeed, the change 
was at once generally beneficial, and had he exercised 
ordinary prudence and care all might have been well. But 
it was now the end of February, and the wind had set in 
from the north, bringing every afternoon chilling breezes 
from the Alpes-Maritimes. Senator Wolcott was more than 
indifferent to the precautions ordinarily taken against cold 
and exposure. He hated heavy or warm clothing. Rarely 
was he seen in Denver wearing an overcoat. He had a 
vigorous man's contempt for pampering himself, and in 
winter, as in summer, his clothes were of thin and light 
texture. To this fact probably may be attributed the final 
attack to which he succumbed. 

The sudden malignant turn of the disease was unex- 
pected. Only a few days before Edward's death a Denver 
business friend received a cablegram from Henry, stating 
that he and Ed intended to leave Monte Carlo soon and 
travel to Paris by easy stages. They were to stay there 
a short time and start for America in April. 

When driving in the afternoons at Monaco, Henry re- 
peatedly warned his brother. He begged him to clothe himself 
more warmly and carry an overcoat. All such suggestions 
and remonstrances were listened to good-naturedly, but were 
unheeded. On the evening of February 21st, the wind being 
more than usually biting and dangerous, while returning 
from a long drive, the Senator remarked to his brother that 
he felt chilled, and he said he would keep to his room for a 
day or two. Evidently he was not alarmed, for he did not 
call a doctor until two days later. Then Dr. Guigliumenti 
was summoned. 

The doctor found his patient breathing with difficulty, 
coughing considerably, and in an anxious state of mind. By 
the next day his general condition had become critical : bron- 
chitis had developed into pneumonia. There was a high 
fever. Another doctor was called on the 26th, and a third 
on the 27th. But the best skill and care were in vain. He 
did not rally, and at 9:13 o'clock of tie evening of March 
1st, within less than a month of his fifty-seventh birthday 
came the end, the Last Scene of All, the scene " that ends 
this strange, eventful history." 



332 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

There were present at the deathbed only Dr. Guigliumenti 
and Henry Wolcott, the stranger and the brother — Henry 
Wolcott, the faithful, the brother who had watched over his 
progress from infancy to manhood and through manhood's 
struggles, rejoicing more over his triumphs and weeping more 
over his reverses than did he himself; who had been with 
him in his days of health and days of illness, in the flush 
time as in the lean time, and who never had been less than 
a brother. Surely if only one member of the family — the 
family he loved so well — could be present at the last struggle, 
it was fitting that Henry should be that one. It was a com- 
panionship that never had been interrupted. How appro- 
priate that it should continue to the end! 

A few days after the demise the body was cremated in 
Paris, and the ashes carried to America, where in the beauti- 
ful Woodlawn Cemetery at New York, they were interred. 
The spot is appropriately marked and is often visited by 
admirers from far and near. 

THE NEWS AT HOME 

Henry Wolcott cabled the distressing information of his 
brother's death to the members of the family, to Ed's law 
firm, Wolcott, Vaile & Waterman, in Denver, and to various 
business associates throughout the country. 

Everywhere the news was a surprise and a shock. Wash- 
ington found it almost impossible to believe. Denver was 
dumbfounded. Ed Wolcott dead? Incredible! 

But it was so. 

To his friends and admirers, Mr. W T olcott's death seemed 
most untimely. He was in the prime of life, and but for 
an occasional attack of gout or of quinzy, had appeared in 
general good health. His prospects, political and financial, 
were promising. Indeed, never did Death seem to enter at 
a more inopportune time, causing all to feel the sad truth 
of Mrs. Hemans's lines: 



Leaves have their time to fall, 
And flowers to wither at the north-wind's breath, 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 333 

And stars to set ; but all, 
Thou hast all seasons for thine own, O Death ! 

Washington was in the throes of preparation for the 
inauguration of President Roosevelt, and the Fifty-ninth 
Congress was rushing to a close when the information of Mr. 
Wolcott's death reached the National capital, where recently 
he had been so active and so well known. But, busy as all 
were, the news from across the water did not fail to arrest 
the general attention. All expressed grief as well as surprise. 
Few men ever left more or more devoted friends upon re- 
tiring from the Senate than did Mr. Wolcott. He was loved 
for his genial, companionable, helpful disposition, and ad- 
mired for his strength and brilliancy. Nor were his mourn- 
ers confined to official life or high society. Many a poor 
creature who had been the beneficiary of his big-heartedness 
mingled his tears with those of the more fortunate of his 
friends. 

In a somewhat different way and even more intensely 
did the news affect Colorado. There he was more generally 
and more intimately known; there the grief over his loss 
was quite universal. At the time the Legislature was 
intensely occupied with the complications growing out of 
the previous campaign. The State was torn with partisan 
and factional strife. The Capitol was constantly guarded, 
and armed men stood over the legislative halls while busi- 
ness proceeded. It was a period of great bitterness and 
intense excitement. But the news of Wolcott's death had 
the effect for the time of stilling all excitement and quiet- 
ing all strife. The Legislature and the courts, Federal and 
State, adjourned as soon as announcement of the demise 
was received, and all ultimately adopted resolutions and 
took other action expressive of the deep regret of the com- 
munity. The news came at night, and the public expression 
of grief was necessarily postponed until the morrow. But 
the private utterance was not deferred; it was immediate 
and genuine. In the hotel lobbies and the club-rooms the 
Senator's death was commented upon to the exclusion of 
almost every other topic. Late political foes were quite as 
unstinted in their praise of the dead man's noble qualities 



334 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

and in expressions of admiration for his genius as were 
his friends. The universal thought was that the State had 
lost one of its strongest characters and one of its ablest and 
most devoted public servants. 

The Denver newspapers printed long biographies and 
appreciative eulogies of the Senator, and expressions of 
sympathy and sorrow poured in from all directions. The 
head-lines in the papers on March 2d announcing the death 
were illustrative of the general feeling. In them politics 
was completely obliterated. In the Denver Republican, 
Republican in politics, we find this : " e. o. wolcott, Colo- 
rado's greatest statesman, dead " ; in the Post, Indepen- 
dent, " E. 0. WOLCOTT, king of diplomacy, politics, and 
oratory, is dead at monte carlo " ; and in the News, 
Democratic, " edward o. wolcott, orator, jurist, states- 
man, DEAD." 

In Denver, on the day after the announcement of the 
death, evidences of grief were visible on every hand. Re- 
publican State Headquarters were draped in mourning. Out 
of respect to the memory of the departed statesman, the State 
Legislature took a recess. The offices of the law firm of 
Wolcott, Vaile & Waterman, of which he was senior partner, 
were closed. The depression was especially marked in the 
offices of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. As general 
counsel for this road his relations with the heads of the 
various departments had been exceedingly close and cordial, 
and all were deeply touched by the news of his death. 

expressions of esteem 

Both in Denver and in Washington, many of Mr. Wol- 
cott's former associates in public life gave expression to 
their feelings through the public prints. 

When a sitting Senator dies a day is set apart for 
eulogies, but this course is not pursued with respect to a 
deceased ex-Senator. No exception was made in Mr. Wol- 
cott's case, but in lieu of such action the presiding officer 
and all the members of the body in which so recently he had 
been so conspicuous a figure expressed themselves person- 
ally in strong terms. Included in these expressions were 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 335 

those of Mr. Wolcott's former colleague, Senator Teller, and 
his successor, Senator Patterson. Senator Teller spoke as 
follows : 

I am deeply shocked over the sad occurrence. I knew Ed 
Wolcott as a young man, when he first came to Colorado. I was 
with him when he tried his first case. I sat by him in this trial 
at his request and advised him. I also knew him when he 
taught school at Blackhawk. Mr. Wolcott was a brilliant man, 
and one whom any person could not help admiring. We differed 
politically in late years, but our relations were always pleasant. 
I regarded Mr. Wolcott as the natural successor to Senator 
Patterson should the Republicans have the State at the next 
election. 

Senator Patterson said: 

The death of ex-Senator Wolcott, so sudden and unexpected, 
comes with a great shock. The announcement hushes all ad- 
verse criticism and calls out acknowledgments of his great 
talents and charming manners which fall spontaneously from 
the lips of all who knew him. He was a most distinguished 
citizen of Colorado, and his public career has shed lustre upon 
the name of his adopted State. His power with men is shown 
in vivid light from the fact that, though he has been so little 
in Colorado for the past six or eight years, he held to the last 
thousands of devoted friends who followed his fortunes in sun- 
shine and storm and through evil and good repute. The death 
of Senator Wolcott removes a powerful element for good in 
the politics of Colorado. While his methods in many a political 
struggle have been severely criticised, he was nevertheless so 
thoroughly independent in his party and kept in closer touch 
with the people than any other of the most prominent Repub- 
lican leaders. 

His death will be a distinct gain for the intolerant autocrats 
in the Republican party, for he was the last serious obstacle to 
the unquestioned rule. 

Other expressions were: 

Vice-President Fairbanks. — Senator Wolcott was a man of 
great ability; strong and firm in his friendships. His death was 
a very great shock to me. I had supposed he was a man of 



336 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

the most robust health and reasonably assured of many years 
of activity and usefulness. 

President Pro. Tem. W. P. Frye. — Ned Wolcott's death was 
almost tragic. I have known but few men who possessed so 
many admirable traits of character and yet were distinctly men 
of force and resolution. 

Senator A. P. Gorman. — Wolcott was one of the braniest 
men that ever came to the Senate. He was genial and thor- 
oughly delightful — a well-spring of pleasure to know. 

Senator J. B. Foraker. — He was a gifted man, charming in 
manner, but so full of energy that he lived more rapidly than 
his constitution could stand. 

Senator John T. Morgan. — He was a great, big, broad, splen- 
did fellow. He ought to have lived forty years longer, if he had 
taken care of himself. 

Senator Shelby M. Cullom. — He was one of the most force- 
ful men I ever knew. He had wonderful resolution and an 
undaunted spirit, and was a power in this body. 

Senator John W. Daniel. — Wolcott's death came to me as 
a very great shock. We were excellent friends, and I learned 
to respect the man's indomitable perseverance and splendid pluck. 
He was a fine type of the Western man, trained in one of the 
world's great universities to help in the upbuilding of the nation. 

The expressions from public men in the State were quite 
as warmly appreciative. Of those the following must suf- 
fice for present purposes. 

Justice John Campbell op the State Supreme Court. — I 
followed his lead for many years, and the news of his death 
has come to me with a shock that is beyond all description. I 
was for him for United States Senator the first time, the last 
time and for all time. . . . 

I have been a close personal friend of his for many years 
and have always been proud to be numbered among his follow- 
ers. I know of no blow that has come upon me that has cast 
such a chill on my heart. It has made the face of nature seem 
lacking in something, wanting in one of her grandest works — 
the presence of Edward O. Wolcott. 

Archie M. Stevenson, Republican National Committeeman 
— Poor Ed ! Gone ! It grieves me greatly. It was so unex- 
pected, and yet I knew he was sick and that he had, in fact, 
been a very sick man for years. The doctors had him nearly 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 337 

scared to death and sent him all over the world a dozen times 
to be cured. Had he lived he would surely have been the 
next Republican Senator from Colorado. He was strong, gener- 
ous, sincere, and brave even to indiscretion and rashness. He 
was warm, generous in his friendships, and always open and 
manly to his friends. He never turned his back. 

Governor Alva Adams. — In his death we lose the most bril- 
liant man in the State, and a great national leader; always a 
commander and never a follower. Strong and dominating, he 
made bitter enemies and loyal friends. A natural leader of men 
was E. O. Wolcott. When inclined to please, few could resist 
the fascination of the man. 

Dewey C. Bailey. — Senator Wolcott was the bravest, kindest, 
and best friend I ever knew. Faithful to his friends and to him- 
self, the loss is not to this State alone, but to the nation. He 
was greater than the State, belonging to the nation. His place 
in public life never will be filled. 

Irving Howbert. — He was one of our most distinguished citi- 
zens, and his loss will be greatly felt by the State. His bril- 
liant career in the Senate made him one of the most commanding 
figures in that body and he was universally recognized as one 
of the brainiest men of the country. Colorado will mourn his 
loss. 

Judge S. S. Downer. — I regarded Senator Wolcott as one of 
the bravest, cleanest, and ablest men in public life in this nation. 
I think he has died at a peculiarly unfortunate moment, as the 
State needs him and his services more than ever. 

Henry Brady. — My sorrow will scarcely let me speak. No 
man will ever know the depth of my grief. It is like losing a 
father. Side by side we have fought in many a bitter political 
fight. His victory was my victory. 

John W. Springer.— What a superb leader! What a friend 
to his friends! Tears come unbidden when I recall his fight 
for me in the mayoralty contest in Denver less than a year 
ago. Coming all the way from New York, and rising from a 
bed of sickness, and leaning heavily on his cane, he appealed 
to the loyal members of the Grand Army of the Republic to 
stand by the regular nominees of the Grand Old Party. I would 
I could lay a fitting tribute on his bier— but time will make all 
things right 

Of the newspaper testimonials none was more eulogistic 
or more genuinely sorrowful than those of the Denver 



338 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Republican and the Rocky Mountain News: the former Re- 
publican in politics and then owned by Mr. Crawford Hill, 
under whose father's management, that of the late Senator 
Hill, the paper had been very antagonistic to Mr. Wolcott; 
and the latter Democratic, and still under the management 
of Mr. Wolcott's perennial opponent and finally successful 
rival for the Senate, Hon. Thomas M. Patterson. The edi- 
torial remarks of the two papers are here reproduced as 
fair specimens of the tributes from the press of the State. 
On the morning following Mr. Wolcott's death, the Repub- 
lican said: 

EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 



In the death of former United States Senator Edward Oliver 
Wolcott, Colorado loses its most distinguished citizen and the 
nation one of its most noted public men. 

A great orator, a sound law-maker, a political leader of rare 
magnetism and enthusiasm, a masterly lawyer, and always a 
sterling patriot worthy of his splendid lineage reaching back to 
the foundation of our government and beyond seas to its Eng- 
lish origin, his memory will be fondly cherished by the people 
of Colorado long after the dust and din of party strife, in which 
he won and lost in such heroic fashion during his somewhat 
stormy political career, shall be forever laid in oblivion. 

He made mistakes — who does not? — but where shall we seek 
for another so gifted in so many ways — so wise and witty, so 
keen in his intuitions of men and things, so capable of going 
to the very core of any problem, so highly cultured and widely 
read, so spontaneous and so full of courageous optimism? 

He had faults, but, like his vastly outweighing good qualities, 
they were temperamental. As the years passed, the philosophic 
spirit triumphed over the impatience and the natural insolence 
of ardent youth in him, as it does in most strong natures 
fortunate enough to keep sweet through the successes and 
failures of life, and we have no doubt that if he had been 
spared to fill out the normal span of existence his opponents 
would have been disarmed of their hostility, and he would 
have seen 

" The stubborn thistles bursting into glossy purples 
Which outredden all voluptuous garden roses." 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 339 

The twelve years which he served as Colorado's first favorite 
in the United States Senate would have been prolonged in- 
definitely, beyond doubt, if he "had gone with his State" in 
the great Presidential campaign of 1896. He stood for unflinch- 
ing loyalty to the Kepublican party, not because he was hostile 
to the overwhelming silver sentiment of Colorado, but because 
he believed that both country and State would fare better in 
all desirable things under McKinley than under Bryan. 

That was not politics, but it was magnificent, and countless 
thousands of Coloradoans who thought otherwise then will now 
do fuller justice to his wise foresight and his unselfish patriotism. 

This is neither the time nor place to do full justice to the 
countless admirable qualities of head and heart of this many- 
sided man, with his vast capacity for the making of warm 
friends and bitter foes, his undying charm of person and voice 
and manner and utterance, his dauntless spirit and his boundless 
interest in everything that goes to make up the sum of life. 

His great contemporaries at the bar, in the halls of Con- 
gress, and in many other fields of human effort will grieve at 
his going and will most fittingly do honor to his memory as a 
leader among men. 

The News's expression of the same date was as follows : 

EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 



Edward O. Wolcott, who died yesterday in Europe, was one 
of that remarkable series of young men for whom Gilpin County 
was the scene of first prominence and who afterward attained 
distinction in many walks of life. Coming to Denver, where his 
brilliant qualities were already known through his service as 
State Senator, he sprang almost immediately into the position 
of a party leader to whom it were well for the older leaders 
to pay respectful attention. Soon followed his advancement to 
the Senate of the United States, wherein for twelve years he 
was a figure of no mean proportions. Since his retirement from 
that position in 1901 comparatively little of his time has been 
spent in this State, the management of financial transactions 
centring in New York and frequent visits to Carlsbad and other 
curative springs occupying his attention. Rheumatism of a 
severe type had been his relentless enemy. During his last visit 
to this city he was compelled to lean heavily upon his cane, and 
his friends were deeply moved to see his once stalwart and 



340 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

splendid figure bent by the assaults of a disease to which his 
ringing voice and merry jokes gave no indication of surrender. 

No man in Colorado had a more remarkable gift for making 
friends — and enemies. However far away might be their chief, 
however dark might seem his fortunes, his friends stood to- 
gether like a loyal band of brothers, always with their faces 
to the front, always a force to be reckoned with. Whatever 
criticism may be passed upon Edward Oliver Wolcott by those 
who ranked themselves as his enemies — and they were not few 
— no man who held the enthusiastic support which always came 
to his standard, whenever he sounded the call to battle, could 
be other than a leader of distinguished qualities. 

Gifted with a fine presence, a melodious and powerful voice, 
an alert and resourceful mind and the air of one fearless, daring, 
and born to command, he was a truly impressive figure on any 
political stage. 

To attempt to consider within the limits of this article an 
intellectual equipment so large, a character so complex, and 
a life so full of action and color, were idle and unseemly. Only 
shall we say that he was a truer man than some who remain 
to grieve little at his death. 

Of many hundreds printed only one outside obituary 
is reproduced here. It is from Goodwin's Weekly of Salt 
Lake City, a publication whose editor ever had been a sin- 
cere admirer of the Colorado Senator. It follows: 

SENATOR WOLCOTT 



So the stormy life of Senator Ed Wolcott has worn itself 
out. Gifted beyond his fellows, he was handsome, winsome, im- 
pulsive, impetuous, reckless, undisciplined, a born leader, a born 
fighter, subtile as a serpent, eloquent and high-bred as a Greek 
master, implacable toward enemies, enchanting to friends, mag- 
netic, imperious, audacious, at home with Bacchus when in the 
mood, but ready to look Thor full in the face and challenge 
him to bring out his biggest hammer and try conclusions with 
him. He was a natural aristocrat by virtue of his lineage, his 
learning, his family place in the nation's history, and his own mas- 
terful abilities, but still a genuine American in every way, and 
especially reverential of the fact that when it comes to a ques- 
tion of country and the direction of events all Americans stand 
on the same plane, and all have a right to a hearing, and the 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 341 

more especially that the aristocracy of a republic rests on brain 
and heart alone. So, many-sided, followed by honors and troops 
of friends and always shadowed by embittered enemies, for 
twenty years he has been more the concernment of the men 
of Colorado than any other man ; his comings and his goings 
among them were like those of Mercury on Olympus, " to witch 
the world." He will be passionately mourned in that State by 
those who loved him, and even his enemies will feel as did 
Earl Douglas when, his passion cooled, and in justice, he said: 
" Bold could he speak, and fairly ride." 

He died young, comparatively, and when his intellectual 
powers were at their height, and, still, judging by his life for 
the past thirty years, he was eighty-seven instead of fifty-seven, 
for in those thirty years he lived two years for every one. He 
aspired to the very highest honors that the Eepublic can be- 
stow; he had abilities that justified his ambition, but he, strong 
and controlling as he was, would never control himself, and he 
watched as he burned life's candle at both ends and contemplated 
calmly what would come when the two flames met. 

There also were many tributes in verse, the most notable of 
which was from the pen of James Barton Adams, a Western 
poet who has contributed many worthy lines to modern litera- 
ture. His tribute was printed in the Denver Post and ran : 

" Ed Wolcott 's dead." — As comes a thunderbolt 
From cloudless skies with harsh, earth-jarring jolt, 
So fell the tidings on the startled ears 
Of us who knew him best, and sorrow's tears 
From pain-drawn eyes of those who loved him well 
On pulsing, grief-swept bosoms silent fell; 
And e'en his enemies with bated breath 
Read of the ruthless stroke from hand of death 
With swollen throats, and hearts that seemed to feel 

The stinging of bereavement's cutting steel; 
And lips in animosity once set 
Against the aggressive statesman voiced regret 
That death had chosen such a shining mark, 

Had dimmed forever the bright vital spark 
Of one whose gifted tongue oft thrilled the land 
With eloquence immeasurably grand, 
And friend and foe in this sad hour of gloom 
Clasp hands and place a wreath upon his tomb. 



342 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Following these more or less public utterances came pour- 
ing in letters of condolence from all over the world. Mani- 
festly it is impossible to here give a tithe of these, and a 
few only will be reproduced. Generally they were addressed 
to Mr. Vaile of Mr. Wolcott's law firm. The few selected 
for reproduction follow. 

From E. T. Jeffery, President of the Denver and Rio 
Grande Railway Company: 

I have just received your personal letter of the 4th instant 
about the death of our good friend, and can scarcely write you 
upon the subject. I saw him the day before he sailed and felt 
a little apprehensive about his health; in fact, I had felt so 
for several months and often talked with him about it. But 
he was so cheery and hopeful, and seemed so full of vitality, 
that I believed he would return to us as strong and vigorous 
as ever. 

You know I was greatly attached to Senator Wolcott and 
he was to me. It was a mutual friendship in every way, and 
we seemed to understand one another, for in all the thirteen 
years of our intercourse, we never had an unpleasant incident of 
any kind. I realized his great natural ability and his cultivated, 
resourceful mind, and all the winning qualities that go with 
so unusual a man ; and yet I knew his faults and we often dis- 
cussed them together, for he despised hypocrisy and never pre- 
tended to be one bit better than he really was. He made no 
pretence of any kind; he was outspoken, and frank, and manly, 
and when moved to folly of any kind, spoke of it in an open, 
straightforward way. But you know all these characteristics 
of him, and a great many more, just as well as I do, and some 
day when we are together again, we can sit down and discuss 
them and keep his memory warm in our hearts, for he was 
deeply attached to both of us. I can't quite tell you how I feel 
about the matter, for I am not yet adjusted to his sudden death. 

I have read many of the laudatory articles written about him 
by those who were formerly his critics and enemies, and I am 
glad to see that all, regardless of parties, or factions, or political 
controversies, characterize him as Colorado's greatest statesman 
in the Republican party. 

From C. E. Perkins, President of the Chicago, Burling- 
ton, and Quincy Railroad Company: 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 343 

I was greatly surprised and shocked to hear of the death 
of Edward Wolcott. I have heard no particulars whatever about 
his death, and not knowing Henry Wolcott's address abroad I 
have not communicated with him. I wish, when you can, you 
would tell me about it, and also send me Henry's address. Had 
Edward been to Carlsbad? I have always felt, and often told 
him, that I feared he would overdo it in going there some time. 
Edward Wolcott has been a very near and dear friend of mine 
for a great many years, as you know, and I shall miss him 
very much. I shall thank you sincerely if you can give me 
some particulars, and if you will tell me about his property, 
and how it is left. What will become of that most attractive 
house at Wolhurst? 

From Mr. Wolcott's former law partner, John G. Mil- 
burn, Esq., of New York : 

I cannot tell you how deeply shocked I was when I heard 
of Wolcott's death. The last time I saw him he was looking 
so well, so happy, so full of life and energy that it is difficult 
to realize what has happened. Though I have not seen much 
of him for years, there was never any diminution of my attach- 
ment to him or my affection for him. He was a man of extraor- 
dinary ability and of the most lovable qualities. From the first 
and always afterward, I felt toward him as I have felt toward 
few men in my life. Since I came here I have hoped to see 
more of him, and now I feel a great personal loss. 

From W. H. Rossington, Esq., Topeka, Kansas: 

I met poor Ed in Chicago when he was on his way to New 
York and to Europe, and spent a very pleasant evening in his 
company, and it is hard for me to conceive of him as having 
joined the majority. He was so full of life and its experiences 
and all high enterprises, political and otherwise, that it is al- 
most impossible to believe that his career has been so suddenly 
and untimely arrested. 

From Ben. B. Lindsey, Judge of the County Court of 
Arapahoe County and originator of the Juvenile Court: 

I have always been a deep admirer of the noble qualities of 
Senator Wolcott. Everyone knew and appreciated his magnifi- 
cent attainments as a lawyer and as a statesman, but I never 



344 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

felt so deeply touched as when a year or two ago one morning 
I received in my mail a personal letter from Senator Wolcott. 
It was full of praise and kindly encouragement, for what he 
was pleased to term a creditable work in the children's court. 
When I went East recently, I took this letter with me as one 
of my valuable possessions, and while I always set a high value 
on this possession, I cannot express to you how much I prize 
this letter now — even more than I ever did, because it will al- 
ways recall to me the noble heart of a noble man, expressing as it 
does his love for the welfare of the children of Colorado, and 
encouraging me beyond all I can estimate to keep up a work 
in which I have tried to do some good, but in which I fear I 
have sometimes been misunderstood, and therefore needed sym- 
pathy and encouragement. It came from him — God bless him! 
— at a time when it was most needed, unsought and unexpected, 
and coming as the sincere expression of his great heart, I am 
sure I would be false to my feelings if I did not recall to you 
for the first time this incident among my pleasant memories of 
a good man. 

Many letters were received from abroad, of which the fol- 
lowing from Gilbert C. Clarke, of London, must suffice : 

I am truly sorry to learn of the great loss you have sus- 
tained in the removal by death of Senator Wolcott. It is now 
nearly sixteen years since you and he were so kind to me in 
Denver, but its remembrance is as true and keen as though it 
were a matter of last year. Though I then met men in great 
variety of position and with every variety of political opinion, 
I never heard anything but the highest praise of your firm and 
personal admiration and respect of its members. The Senator 
indeed seemed one of those charmed and charming men that 
inspire affection even in those with whom they have but slight 
contact. 

Over here in England it is perhaps impossible to follow the 
internal affairs of your country, though we certainly should be 
better informed than we are. But with foreign relationship our 
Press does go more into detail, and, on more than one occasion, 
as I read a report of a speech by your colleague in the Senate, I 
have been warmed through and through by its breadth of view 
and boldness of aim. America is the better for his life, and 
England with other Nations also has benefited in ways both 
seen and unsuspected. 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 345 

He bore without reproach 

The grand old name of gentleman. 

You must please excuse my thus writing on a subject and 
at a time that should forbid the intrusion of stranger hands; 
but I cannot refrain from showing that the loss is not yours 
solely. 

BY BAR AND COURT 

Soon after the death of Senator Wolcott the Bar Asso- 
ciation of Denver met to take appropriate action. A 
committee was appointed, and it prepared resolutions com- 
memorative of the life and character of the Senator to be 
presented to the various courts, Federal and State, before 
which Mr. Wolcott had practised. The committee consisted 
of Messrs. A. M. Stevenson, H. M. Orahood, L. M. Cuthbert, 
Clinton Reed, and E. M. Cranston. After being adopted by 
the Bar Association, these resolutions were presented to 
all the important courts sitting in Denver and by them 
ordered spread upon their records. 

In addition, the committee adopted the following 
resolution : 

Resolved, That as an expression of our sympathy with those 
who, bound by closer ties to the late Edward Oliver Wolcott, 
have the heavier burden of affliction to bear in his death, a 
suitable engrossed copy of this memorial be forwarded to the 
Hon. Henry R. Wolcott (the best beloved, the most unselfish of 
brothers, and the staun chest of friends), with the request that 
it be preserved in the archives of the family as a testimonial to 
the enduring worth of the deceased from those among whom 
and for whom he labored during the best years of his eventful 
and honorable career. 

The Bar Association expressed itself as follows: 

IN MEMORIAM 

EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

" A mighty memory has gone 

From the full volume of the hour, 



346 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

The less a majesty passed on 
Than something measureless of pow'r; 

A spirit missing from the page 
That yet incarnateth the song; 

A presence parted from the stage, 
Though moves the drama still along." 

A masterful force, a mighty intellect, an indomitable spirit, 
" something measureless of pow'r " has passed on. 

Entering upon the active duties of his profession, hold- 
ing his first public office, and first coming into public notice 
coincidentally with the admission of Colorado as a State into 
the Union, the development and growth of Edward Oliver Wol- 
cott kept pace with the advancement of the State, and the for- 
tunes and misfortunes, the successes and reverses, the welfare 
and the troubles of the man and the State have been so inter- 
mingled and commingled that the life of the one is the history 
of the other. 

He brought to the discharge of the duties imposed upon him 
as lawyer, statesman, and diplomat commanding talents such as 
few are blessed with, and a rigid, resolute devotion to principle 
which was his by nature, by inheritance, and by training. 

In every walk of life he was an indefatigable, untiring worker. 
As a student he so absorbed and assimilated the wisdom and 
knowledge of the sages that he passed rapidly from the class 
of learners to that of teacher, scholar, and leader. Ambitious 
to achieve, he excelled by virtue of his own personality, genius, 
and talents. His motto was ever " Spes sibi quisque." 

As a lawyer he had the rare gift of adapting fundamental 
principles to the elucidation of points in issue, and could es- 
tablish precedents with greater effect than less gifted men could 
follow them. He was no less successful in convincing judges 
than in persuading juries. 

As a statesman he brought to his aid a thorough training 
in polemical and political science and a far-seeing, almost pro- 
phetic insight into the effect of political events, inspired by a 
patriotic love of his country and his State. 

As a diplomat in negotiations with the representatives of 
foreign powers, who for generations have been trained in all the 
subtle arts of diplomacy, he more than held his own, met guile with 
frankness, overcame prejudice by the charming grace and courtesy 
of his demeanor, and displayed a knowledge of the resources and 
politics of foreign countries as novel as it was surprising. 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 347 

His whole career, social, political, and professional, was il- 
lumined by his strong and marked individuality. Controlled by 
the courage of his convictions he was always aggressive and 
never on the defensive. Often upon the losing side, he was ever 
unconquered. A leader of parties, neither the declarations of 
principles nor the will of even a majority could induce him to 
abandon what he thought his rightful position. Whether it were 
a victorious army or a forlorn hope that responded to his call, 
he was ever in the front. 

With it all, he was master of an attractive and engaging 
manner and delivery that was captivating even when it was re- 
sented; of a sparkling wit that was not tempered with bitter- 
ness; of an occasional shaft of sarcasm that was not tipped 
with envy or malice, and of a wonderful gift of eloquence 
which made him facile princeps among the orators of his day. 
Suaviter in modo, fortiter in re, with equal facility he won 
the affections of his allies and compelled the admiration of his 
enemies. 

In every relation he was a great force. By birth, instinct, 
and education, under all circumstances, he was a leader of 
thought, a commander of success, a ruler of men. 

His character was complex and his abilities extraordinary. 
He hated shams and despised hypocrisy. He cherished his 
friends and defied his enemies. Perfect he was not, but those 
who knew him best, knew his great worth and were proud of 
his friendship. 

The memory of his attractiveness and his magnetic qualities 
may die with those of us who have come within the circle of 
their influence, but the forces which he has set in motion will 
actuate and influence the conduct of heroes yet unborn, of leaders 
now undreamed of. 

May we reverentially have confident belief that by virtue of 
the divine spirit of immortality, the wonderful gifts which dis- 
tinguished Edward Oliver Wolcott from all others are not lost, 
but that in another and better realm they are still used for 
noble purposes. 

" He passes silent to his peers 

In that still chamber dim and vast 

Where sit, invincible of years, 

The uncrowned monarchs of the past; 

A grander embassy to know, 
In that far country overhead, 



348 EDWAKD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Than soul inheriteth here below, — 
The white-robed senate of the dead." 

Respectfully submitted, 

A. M. Stevenson, 
H. M. Orahood, 

L. M. ClJTHBERT, 

Clinton Reed, 
E. M. Cranston, 

Committee. 

The resolutions were presented to the United States 
District Court, Judge Moses Hallett presiding, November 
25, 1905, by Hon. Earl M. Cranston, United States District 
Attorney. In bringing them to the attention of the court, 
Mr. Cranston said: 

There are many in this State to whom Senator Wolcott was 
more than a merely valuable citizen, more than a distinguished 
member of the bar, more than a political leader to be followed, 
and more even than a great statesman to be honored. He was 
to us a friend beloved always. And if we seek the reason for 
his pre-eminence in all these things we cannot find it, I think, 
in his great intellectual powers alone, although these moved as 
rapidly and as brilliantly as the flash of the lightning. Nor 
can we find it, I think, in his wit, which was as nimble and 
as warm as a sunbeam. And not even in his intense personal 
magnetism, which held men to him as irresistibly as gravitation 
draws all things to the centre of the earth. I believe the secret 
of his great success lay in his intense manliness and his courage. 
And if this courage sometimes angered or temporarily embittered 
those whom he opposed, it is equally true that always, always, 
it stood as a bulwark of defence for his friends, whom he 
never dishonored or betrayed in any way. The loyalty of our 
friend to old associations was most marked. It leaped over all 
the years across the miles of distance, to the old New Eng- 
land hearthstone, where the Puritan father and mother sat in 
the bright light of his affection as long as they lived. And so 
we say that the strong points in the character of Senator Wolcott 
were his perfect manliness, his devotion to his friends, his cour- 
age, his filial affection, and a personal winsomeness that warmed 
and charmed every circle in which he ever sat. Intellectually 
accurate and honest in all his methods, he never paltered and 
he never quibbled, and he was impatient with anybody who did 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 349 

so. He had his faults, perhaps, as all of us have in common, 
but he had many virtues. And so we say, Peace to his ashes 
and all honor to his memory. 

Judge ETallett responded : 

I believe that Mr. Wolcott in his lifetime enjoyed the esteem 
and commendation of his associates at the bar, and it is gratify- 
ing on this occasion to have their sentiments reiterated in re- 
spect to his ability and character as a statesman and as a lawyer. 
It is appropriate that this record should be made in this forum, 
where he was often seen and heard. I respond to the sentiments 
of the bar in the fullest degree. The resolution as presented by 
Mr. Cranston will be entered of record in the Circuit Court. 

Memorial services were not held in the Supreme Court 
of the State until February 6, 1906, almost a year after 
Mr. Wolcott's death, when there was another pronounced 
outpouring of affection for the man and of admiration for 
his qualities of head and heart. The committee resolutions 
were presented by Mr. Cuthbert, and were adopted and 
ordered to be spread on the minutes of the court. Mr. 
Cuthbert's address was a careful study of Mr. Wolcott as 
a lawyer, and deserves preservation in its entirety. He said : 

In the death of Edward Oliver Wolcott the bar of this State 
has lost one of its most brilliant lights. 

Favored by nature with marked abilities, he added to those 
gifts the experience of a life which, though ending in its very 
prime, was full of energy and intellectual vigor. 

With all the promises for the future which talent and genius 
could give, how sad was this death, in a foreign land, and be- 
fore the completion of his life-work ! What thoughts of life and 
its possibilities must have coursed through his rapid-thinking 
mind, as he lay upon that lonely deathbed in the south of France ! 

" Oh, what hadst thou to do with cruel death, 
Who wast so full of life, or death with thee, 
That thou shouldst die before thou hadst grown old?" 

It was as a lawyer, engaged in active and engrossing prac- 
tice, that most of us first knew him and learned to appreciate 
and admire his masterful qualities: and while his later years 



350 EDWAKD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

were spent in the broader fields of national affairs, his training 
and education at the bar were always the governing influence 
of his life. He acquired the admirable art of presenting a 
case with such clearness and exactness as to carry conviction 
in the mere statement; thereby illustrating the remark of a 
great lawyer, " that a case is won, not so much by labored and 
elaborate argument and eloquence, as by the clearness with which 
it is put by counsel before the court or jury." 

His preparation of a case was always thorough and effective, 
and he possessed, in a high degree, the faculty of discrimina- 
tion, and of knowing how to utilize the labor of his assistants. 
By reversing an ancient and time-honored maxim, and " never 
doing himself what he could get some one else to do equally 
well," he was enabled to accomplish more in the way of work 
than most men could, under similar circumstances; whereby he 
was enabled to concentrate his energies, with splendid success, 
upon the vital features of the case in hand. 

There was in his manner, in the quickness of his perception, 
in his grasp of a situation, a subtle and indescribable element 
which distinguished him from other men. There was a wit 
peculiarly his own; a rapidity of retort; a promptitude to meet 
every adverse situation or proposition, which he alone possessed, 
and added to these indefinable qualities there was a sincerity 
and force which never failed to impress the individual or tri- 
bunal to which he addressed himself. 

There has certainly been no man at this bar whose personal 
characteristics counted for as much as his. His power of elo- 
quence won for him a national reputation. He could sway, with 
irresistible force, an audience of thousands — exciting sympathy 
or evoking ridicule, or making those rapid transitions from seri- 
ousness to gayety which are so effective in a public speaker; 
but always carrying conviction, and winning the enthusiastic 
admiration of his hearers. 

His power of sarcasm was withering; but it took strong pro- 
vocation to call it forth. His dominant characteristic was his 
magnetic force and effectiveness, whether in addressing an indi- 
vidual or an audience. And combined with all these there was, 
deep in his heart, a strong and abiding sympathy with his 
fellow-men, affection for his friends, and loyalty and patriotic 
devotion to his State and country. 

No man could attain the eminence which he reached in the 
professional and political world, without being subjected to criti- 
cism, and even, at times, to bitter partisan attack and hostilitv; 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 351 

and his vigorous and aggressive character secured for him a 
full and, perhaps, undeserved measure of such treatment. 

This is no occasion for a discussion of the merits or de- 
merits of personal criticism. The shadow of death has cast its 
mantle over this great career, and the voice of censure is hushed 
in the presence of that messenger who, sooner or later, summons 
us all to a bar where justice and right, in the truest sense, are 
administered. 

It is the natural disposition of men to speak well of those 
who are dead. This inclination is often conducive to unwar- 
ranted, and, at times, exaggerated, flattery; and the critic of 
the living often becomes the eulogist of the dead. What is more 
pathetic than 

" To hear the world applaud the hollow ghost, 
Which blamed the living man," 

as Matthew Arnold expresses it? This spirit of appreciation 
— the desire to see and remember only what was good and true 
and beautiful in one whose career is ended — is, however, to my 
mind, a virtuous trait, and a tribute to the kindly instinct of 
man. 

In the career of him, toward whom our thoughts are at this 
time directed, are found qualities of the most remarkable and 
admirable character; qualities which not only made him the 
great and representative man that he was, but which have 
stamped his record and memory indelibly upon the history of 
his time. His usefulness and effectiveness were not confined to 
the limits of his State, or even to those of the United States 
Senate, where his influence was felt to a marked degree. His 
abilities and accomplishments secured for him an international 
recognition — through which there was reflected upon his State 
and his country the greatest credit and honor. 

As a lawyer his career was eminently brilliant and success- 
ful; as a statesman he won laurels both at home and abroad; 
and as a citizen his aims and efforts were always for the wel- 
fare and betterment of his fellow-men and his country. 

Personally he possessed a wonderful magnetism, which drew 
men to him, irresistibly and firmly; and, when cemented by 
that kindly spirit and generosity which were his great character- 
istics, the friendships of his life became strong and abiding. 

The later years of his life were saddened by a feeling that 
his efforts and aims had not always been justly or fairly 



352 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

estimated or appreciated by the people of the State which he 
loved so dearly, and whose welfare he so conscientiously and 
persistently considered. But to many who were close to him, 
it was apparent that there had come to him, with those senti- 
ments — depressing as they were — a softening of character, a 
broadening of sympathy and consideration, and a deeper respect 
for the views and opinions of those from whom he differed. His 
later years were certainly 

" Mellowed and soften'd as with sunset glow, 
A golden day's decline." 

I am grateful for the opportunity of presenting to this court 
the memorial of the Bar Association, and of paying this tribute 
to the memory of a man who has done so much to elevate the 
profession of which he was such a distinguished member. 

Chief Justice Gabbert replied for the court: 

By those who knew Edward Oliver Wolcott well, or are 
familiar with the history of our State, his life-work as a citizen, 
lawyer, and statesman will at once be recognized in the summary 
of his career epitomized in the memorial of the Bar Association. 
He came to Colorado in his early manhood and shortly there- 
after actively engaged in the practice of his profession. He 
moulded his own career; he did not wait for opportunity to come 
to him, but created it himself. He did not wait for his ship 
to come in, but when he discovered its sails hovering on the 
horizon of his life, uncertain and wavering in its course, he 
reached out, grasped, and securely moored it to the shore of 
success. He was trained in his profession, but no man becomes 
a great lawyer by training alone. In addition he must possess 
some of those peculiar characteristics of intellect which enable 
him, by discipline, to grasp and solve legal problems. Nature 
was kind to Edward Oliver Wolcott in this respect. He was 
wonderfully successful as a lawyer, but in a great measure this 
success was due to the fact that he thoroughly mastered and 
understood his cases, and thus he was enabled to make others 
comprehend them also. With the advent of his adopted State 
into the Union his public career began, and continued almost 
without interruption for a quarter of a century. It was marked 
with a degree of success at home and abroad seldom achieved 
by any man. 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 353 

Except to gratify a laudable ambition he had no need to 
become a United States Senator in order to realize further suc- 
cess. His pre-eminence was then established. In the law, in 
business, as a leader, as a citizen, he stood prominent. His 
sphere of usefulness would have been extended without the Sen- 
atorial toga. But the additional honor thus conferred was fully 
reciprocated by the services he rendered his State and the nation. 

The lifelong friends of the departed are his best judges. 
They knew his good qualities and were acquainted with his frail- 
ties. The chance acquaintance, the world at large, were more 
apt to give heed to the latter; but when intimate friends who 
understood the motives which prompted his action and who clave 
to him at all times, testify to his many admirable qualities, we 
can rest assured and can truly say he possessed many noble 
attributes of character. 

IN MASS MEETING 

Probably the most general expression of the grief of 
the people of Denver was heard in a meeting held at the 
Broadway Theatre on the anniversary of Mr. Wolcott's birth, 
March 26, 1905. This ceremony was under the auspices of 
the Colorado Club, but there was no effort to confine at- 
tendance to members of the organization. The proceedings 
were non-partisan in most respects. John W. Springer 
presided. The programme was as follows: 

" In Heavenly Love Abiding " Mendelssohn 

Double Quartette 
Invocation 

Rev. Frank T. Bayley, D.D. 
Hymn— " Christ for the World we Sing " 

Double Quartette and Audience 
" The Citizen » 

Judge John Campbell 
Solo — " One Sweetly Solemn Thought " Ambrose 

Mrs. W. J. Whiteman 
"The Lawyer" 

Hon. Joel F. Vaile 
Trio— " Lift Thine Eyes " (from the Elijah) 

Misses Davis, Whiteman, and Rost 
" The Statesman " 

Hon. A. M. Stevenson 



354 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Solo—" God Shall Wipe Away All Tears Sullivan 

Mrs. Otis B. Spencer 
" In Memoriam " 

Hon. John W. Springer 
Hymn—" Lead, Kindly Light " 

Double Quartette 
Hymn—" My Country 'T is of Thee " 

Double Quartette and Audience 
Benediction 

Rev. Thomas Nelson Haskell 

How appropriate it was that the hymn " Christ for the 
World" was included in the services will be better appre- 
ciated after it is explained that it is the production of 
Mr. Wolcott's father, Dr. Samuel Wolcott. This fact was 
of course understood at the time, although but few in the 
audience could have known the interest Mr. Wolcott had 
always felt in his father's poetical creations. The hymn is 
one of Dr. Wolcott's best, and the account of the services 
would be incomplete without it. It follows: 

CHRIST FOR THE WORLD 

Christ for the world we sing ; 
The world to Christ we bring, 

With loving zeal; 
The poor, and them that mourn, 
The faint and overborne, 
Sin-sick and sorrow-worn, 

Whom Christ doth heal. 

Christ for the world we sing; 
The world to Christ we bring, 

With fervent prayer; 
The wayward and the lost, 
By restless passions tossed, 
Redeemed at countless cost, 

From dark despair. 

Christ for the world we sing; 
The world to Chirst we bring, 

With one accord; 
With us the work to share, 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 355 

With us reproach to dare, 

With us the cross to bear, 

For Christ our Lord. 



Christ for the world we sing ! 
The world to Christ we bring, 

With joyful song; 
The new-born souls, whose days, 
Reclaimed from error's ways, 
Inspired with hope and praise, 

To Christ belong. 

At the right of the stage was placed a picture of Mr. 
Wolcott appropriately draped. The boxes were occupied by 
the members of the Wolcott family, including Rev. William 
E. Wolcott, Herbert W. Wolcott, Miss Anna L. Wolcott, and 
Mrs. Frederick O. Vaille, brothers and sisters of the dead Sen- 
ator, and several nephews and nieces. Governor McDonald 
and the Legislature as a body were present. The theatre 
was crowded from pit to gallery. 

Justice John Campbell, of the State Supreme Court, de- 
livered the first address, speaking of Mr. Wolcott as " The 
Citizen." It formed an extended commentary upon his life, 
furnishing a character study of value. Excerpts follow: 

When the people of Colorado, by their chosen representatives, 
twice elected to the United States Senate Edward Oliver Wol- 
cott, they honored themselves quite as much as they did him. 
That he was not continuously kept there must not be interpreted 
as a lack of appreciation by his constituents, or that he had 
not faithfully represented their interests. For all concede that 
with distinguished ability and rare fidelity he discharged the 
duties, and maintained the dignity, of his high office. 

It is but natural and seemly to speak kindly of the dead. In 
the presence of death, human passions are stilled, jealousies 
buried, rivalries forgotten, bitterness and vituperations cease. 

If the masterful man whose life went out in a foreign land, 
and whose ashes have just been deposited in his native soil, had 
fashioned the programme for his own memorial services and 
supervised the addresses that are to be made, the editorial blue 
pencil would be ruthlessly drawn across every word and sentence 



356 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

that savored of fulsome flattery or sycophancy, and the award 
of virtues to which he made no claim would be more distasteful 
to his honest and discriminating mind than to be accused of 
offences of which he was not guilty. 

The prime quality of a good citizen is integrity. In the 
fiercest controversies in which Mr. Wolcott engaged, in the bit- 
terest political battles that centred around him, in legal and 
business dealings, no whisper against his personal integrity ever 
reached my ears, and I do not now recall that his enemies — 
of whom all great leaders usually have a full quota — ever pub- 
licly challenged his honesty. They might, and did, disagree with 
his policies, question the wisdom of his political doctrines, and 
dissent from his judgment, but his personal integrity was con- 
ceded by his most virulent foe. 

He would be the last man to defend or commend for the 
imitation of young men, some of the things he did, and other 
things he was accused of doing, but which he did not do. He 
was no Pharisee, and the halo of saintship had never been au- 
thoritatively conferred upon him, or claimed by him. But the 
friends who knew him best — and now that the hot passions 
aroused by political controversies have cooled, enemies also — 
will testify to his intellectual honesty, his unbending integrity 
in the various affairs of life. 

I do not intend to criticise, or rebuke, or introduce a dis- 
cordant note, or assume to pass judgment on any one's motives, 
but I cannot withhold reference to the superb moral heroism 
displayed by Mr. Wolcott in 1806, when apparently his entire 
party and his State were about to cut loose from the national 
political organization to which he belonged. It is so easy to 
drift with the current, but Mr. Wolcott made up his mind to 
stick to his party. This determination meant much to him. The 
breaking of long existing and pleasant social and political friend- 
ships was involved, and the almost certain loss of office was 
one of the minor penalties that stared him in the face. But 
he did not hesitate. 

Having decided what his duty to State and nation was, he threw 
his whole soul into the fight for principle, never turned back, 
never apologized, never asked for, or gave, quarter. Because of 
its relation to a national election in which the paramount issue 
was a policy of international importance, this act of Mr. Wol- 
cott's centred upon him the eyes of the entire country and 
made him a national character. 

Henry Clay, though a great compromiser; Blaine, the target 






'NINETY-SIX AND AFTEE 357 

of abuse and party hatred; Randall, charged with misrepresent- 
ing a selfish policy of his immediate constituents ; Jackson, the 
typical spoilsman, each and all were courageous men. The peo- 
ple trusted them, and though all did not achieve the object of 
their great ambition, each one was a statesman, and all are 
dear to the hearts of their countrymen. In this list of courage- 
ous men, Senator Wolcott's name belongs. 

Sincerity, the very antithesis of demagoguism, was one of his 
dominant characteristics. No one who heard him in public or 
conversed with him in private could doubt the sincerity of his 
convictions. It rang out in all his utterances because it per- 
meated every fibre of his brain and saturated every tissue of 
his heart. The arts and insincerity, the hesitation and caution, 
of the " gum shoe " politician, constituted no part of his equip- 
ment. Fragile glass could not sustain the weight of his con- 
victions on questions of governmental policy. His feet were 
planted on solid rock, and he made no attempt to muffle the 
sound of his footsteps. 

Our friend did not escape the common experience of a great 
leader. He had his complement of fair-weather friends, and felt 
the sting of ingratitude that is so hard even for the strong and 
self-reliant to bear. 

But while the relation of true friendship lasted, how royally 
did he reward his friends with charming confidences and material 
aid, and how valiantly he protected and stood by them against 
every attack! That he was imposed upon, as President Grant 
was, and sometimes shielded bad men, after the world knew 
their real character, is true, but so long as his own belief in 
the friendship endured, nothing could induce him to withdraw 
his protecting arm. 

Pious cant he abhorred, and meaningless generalities avoided. 
The good things he did he would have us remember, and only 
those; for, though he never paraded his religious beliefs, his 
godly father's religion was for him the eternal verity. 

Hon. Joel F. Vaile, the former law partner of Senator 
Wolcott, spoke of him as " The Lawyer." He told of the 
dead Senator's career at the bar; of his unimpeachable in- 
tegrity; of his brilliancy and wonderful oratorical powers, 
and read selections from his speeches. In part, Mr. Vaile 
said: 

There are those in this audience whose acquaintance with 



358 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Senator Wolcott long antedates mine. Graduating in 1871 from 
the law school of Harvard University, he came at once to Colo- 
rado. And his whole professional career has had its centre of 
action here. When I first met him, twenty-three years ago, he 
was already, at the age of thirty-four, a commanding figure at 
the bar of Colorado and of the West. He was then participating 
in most of the important cases tried in the State and Federal 
courts, in this jurisdiction. He was then performing the duties 
of general counsel of the Denver & Rio Grande Railway Com- 
pany, and soon after was appointed general counsel, and held 
that position to the end of his days. He was then the repre- 
sentative of the Burlington Railway System in Colorado, and 
so continued throughout his life. Such positions and respon- 
sibilities are obtained, and retained, not by favor, but by worth. 
It is because for value received, full value is given in efficient 
service. 

Mr. Wolcott was a man of phenomenal intellectual powers. 
Facile and sure in his mental operations, I have never known 
any other man who could so quickly grasp all the features of 
a complicated problem; who could so readily unravel all the 
tangled threads of a difficult subject and weave them into a 
fabric displaying their logical relations and significance. He 
had the power of rapid and accurate generalization. This 
quality made him not only powerful in argument, but invaluable 
as a counsellor. To use an expression of Huxley's, his intellect 
was ready, like a steam engine, for any kind of work, to spin 
the gossamers as well as forge the anchors of the mind. 

That Mr. Wolcott had, in an unusual degree, the power of 
moving eloquence, is a fact probably well known to you all. 
This faculty was manifested alike in the judicial forum, on 
the floor of the Senate, and on the political hustings. But I 
conceive that the real basis of that eloquence has not been 
sufficiently appreciated. It is to be found expressed in the words 
of old John Milton: 

" True eloquence," says Milton, " I find to be none but the 
serious and hearty love of truth, and that whose mind soever 
is fully possessed with a fervent desire to know good things, 
and with the dearest charity to infuse the knowledge of them 
into others; when such a one would speak, his words, like to 
many nimble and airy servitors, trip about him at command, 
and in well ordered files, as he would wish, fall aptly into their 
own places." 

Mr. Wolcott's addresses, legal, Senatorial, political, or gen- 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 359 

eral, were marked by this impress of truth. He always spoke 
from conviction. He was never in the slightest degree a time- 
server. He spoke the truth as he saw it. It is here you will 
find the main structure of his power in address, a structure 
indeed embellished by a playful fancy, a ready wit, and a mag- 
netic presence. 

In considering Mr. Wolcott as a lawyer there is one char- 
acteristic of the man that must rank above all others, and that 
is the high standard of professional duty and honor, which he 
always upheld. The temptations to lower such standard come 
often with great force to the lawyer representing numerous and 
large and varied interests, and especially in running the strenu- 
ous pace set by this money-making age. Yet in these twenty 
years of close professional association with Mr. Wolcott I have 
never heard a suggestion, affirmative or by consent, of any act 
which would fall below the highest plane of professional integrity. 

Hon. A. M. Stevenson dealt with Senator Wolcott as a 
statesman, saying in part : 

It is difficult for one who enjoyed Senator Wolcott's friend- 
ship and was proud of it, to speak of him only as a statesman. 
There is something so impersonal in the subject assigned me that 
I hope to be excused if I wander away from it somewhat in the 
little that I may say on this occasion. I had, in fact, hoped 
that these exercises might have been delayed until we could 
secure the attendance here of one or more of his colleagues in 
the Senate, who would best be able to speak of his career as 
a statesman. 

It was in the closer personal relations of life that I knew 
him best, and it is of the charm, grace, and attractiveness of 
the man and his personality that I should prefer to speak. 

Now that he is gone, those who never agreed with him in 
life will admit that he deserved the high place which he at- 
tained and always held. He was the peer of any Senator. His 
friends and intimates at Washington were the best and greatest 
of our statesmen. When he addressed the Senate every member 
was in his seat, and the public galleries and those of the diplo- 
matic corps and of official Washington were always filled. 

We cannot on this occasion follow in detail his work as a 
legislator. He accomplished much for his State and was un- 
tiring in his devotion to its interests. He went to Washington 
thoroughly imbued with the ideas and sentiments of the people 



360 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

of the West, and especially those of his own State, upon eco- 
nomic questions, and at once became a leader both in counsel 
and in debate upon all subjects connected with the monetary 
system of his country. He believed then that the free and un- 
restricted coinage of silver by the independent action of the 
United States was possible. His speeches in the Senate advo- 
cating this monetary policy will always be classed among the 
most convincing arguments in behalf of the double standard. 

Senator Wolcott was always a partisan, but he never allowed 
his partisanship to betray him into unwarranted and unjustifi- 
able attacks upon those who had carried the banner of the Con- 
federacy. He recognized the bravery and chivalry of the men 
of the South and when the war was over, it was, in fact, over 
with him. He recognized that we are all Americans and his 
efforts were ever directed toward bringing about a better feeling 
between the sections. He wished to see our country again 
united and all the people of all States striving for a common 
destiny. 

During President Harrison's administration there was intro- 
duced in Congress a bill commonly known as the Force Bill. . . 
Mr. Wolcott believed the bill injurious to the South and there- 
fore unjust to the country. He opposed it and brought all his 
wonderful powers of oratory and organization to bear to ac- 
complish its defeat. The good feeling between the sections was 
tbus cemented. Those days of distrust and hatred have passed 
away and we are once more a harmonious and united country. 

Senator Wolcott was a partisan, but he was a partisan for 
what he thought the right, and the will of even a majority of 
his party could not make him abandon what he considered his 
rightful position. 

It is only minds like his that can see beyond the passion of 
the hour, and courage like his that can stand, alone if need be, 
for the right. 

He was a Protectionist. In all contests for Free Trade or 
for Tariff for Revenue, he stood for Protection. He looked beyond 
the infant days of Colorado to the time when her great resources 
should need the aid of Protection to insure their development. 
He believed that the policy of Protection was the best for all 
the people of the country. 

In all his public career he retained the friendship and affec- 
tion of those highest in the counsels of the nation. President 
McKinley loved and trusted him ; he was the intimate personal 
friend of our great Secretary of State. He knew the men of 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 361 

affairs and statecraft in the leading nations of Europe and they 
respected and believed in him. 

Honors were heaped upon him wherever he went, but no 
honors were his that did not honor his State — the State that 
he loved and whose people now, too late, all honor and respect 
his memory and appreciate his virtues. 

He was a manly man; he hated shams and fought in the 
open. He was a loyal friend and he has left us a legacy of kind 
and generous deeds. 

The State mourns the loss of her most brilliant statesman; 
his associates mourn the loss of his wise counsels and generous 
and hearty sympathy, and I am bereft of a friend. 

John W. Springer, as President of the Club, delivered 
the memorial address proper, saying: 

" The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, 

And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, 
Await alike the inevitable hour, — 

The paths of glory lead but to the grave." 

In the hush of the eventide, March 1, 1905, a message was 
flashed over the fields of France, and under the waves of the 
Atlantic, and on over the Alleghanies — to the sunny peaks of the 
Rockies : 

" Edward Oliver Wolcott died this day in Monte Carlo." 

What sorrowful news for all Colorado! There is not a man, 
woman, or child within the confines of this commonwealth, but 
knew this masterful man — the Alexander Hamilton of the 
West. 

His scholastic attainments, his intrepid and fearless courage, 
his lofty patriotism, coupled with an irresistible personality, 
supplemented by his bewitching oratorical ability, made him the 
peer of any man during that Senatorial period; and Colorado 
became famous as Edward Oliver Wolcott went up and down 
the land, swaying tens of thousands with his matchless powers 
of oratory, and brilliancy of diplomatic address. 

I shall never forget my introduction to Senator Wolcott, in 
189G, in Colorado. As I look back, those truly were strenuous 
times. The old party was rent in twain, and any man who 
would not cheer for " 16 to 1 " was not only considered disloyal 
to his State, but an enemy of his country. How well do I re- 
member my feelings when I saw this American statesman de- 



362 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

serted by thousands of his lifetime friends and partisans, almost 
siDgle-handed and alone, go up and down the Rocky Mountain 
region, surrounded by what has fittingly been called the " Old 
Guard," pleading with the people to fearlessly cling to that 
magnificent Republican (our martyred President), William 
McKinley. 

I followed, as a stranger, this great Colorado champion of 
the old Republican party. I heard him denounce this " will-o'- 
the-wisp " fantasy of cheap money. I saw him fall, a victim 
of this State's delusion. And when I look back and remember 
the tens of thousands of dollars of his own earnings he poured 
out with a lavish hand ; to say nothing of the weeks, months, and 
years, he labored like a dray-horse for the " Old Party " and its 
undying principles, I thank God that is was my choice and 
my pleasure to stand by him in every succeeding fight, and 
to do my best to aid him, in 1903, to return to the Senate 
of the United States, which was owing to him more cer- 
tainly than to any man within the borders of the Centennial 
State. 

Edward Oliver Wolcott's record is made up, and his life- 
work closed. We loved him in life, and we mourn his untimely 
death. Truly, it is a trite saying that " death loves a shining 
mark." With only a few years over half a century in his life's 
journey, with many a task uncompleted, many a hope crushed, 
and many bitter memories, his proud spirit reluctantly gave up 
the unequal contest, and had he lived to-day would have marked 
the fifty-fourth mile-post in life's journey. 

May all the good influences of his active life dwell with us 
and linger in our hearts, as we go hence. And may we take one 
special lesson from his life and death, and that is — when a public 
servant does his duty fearlessly, tell him you appreciate it, while 
he is living. A smile, a word of appreciation, a hearty hand- 
shake, an earthly reward for service well rendered, is worth all 
the eulogiums, the monuments, and the tears shed by multitudes, 
after one is dead. A man needs help while he is alive — not 
praise after the cold hand of death has been laid upon him. 
Adopt the principle of speaking well of a man, or of saying 
nothing, and learn by heart the words of Will Carleton : 

" Boys flying kites, haul in their white-winged birds. 
You can't do that way, when you 're flying words. 
Thoughts unexpressed may sometimes fall back dead, 
But God Himself can't stop them when they 're said." 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 363 

His political vindication was his just desert. It was denied 
him here; it will be meted out over there. As we take a part- 
ing look at his ennobling features, portrayed upon the canvas 
beside us, we shall but mirror his great and good deeds upon 
the tablets of our memory, which shall abide with us. Peace to 
his ashes, and rest to his soul! 

On the 19th of April following, the Board of Directors 
of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Company adopted 
the following: 

Whereas, death has taken from us Mr. Edward Oliver Wol- 
cott, who since the organization of this company has been a 
member of its board of directors and its general counsel, and 
prior thereto, throughout nearly all of his professional career, 
was connected with the legal department of the railroad, and 

Whereas, Mr. Wolcott served his country with much dis- 
tinction, and this company with unwavering devotion to duty, 
and his friends with loyalty and affection, this Board, whose 
members individually feel the personal loss of a friend, as well 
as an official associate, desires to give expression, though in- 
adequate, to the high place held by Mr. Wolcott in its esteem, 
and the deep sense of the loss occasioned by his death. Now, 
therefore, 

Resolved, that the directors of the Denver and Rio Grande 
Railroad Company do hereby express their great sorrow at the 
death of the Honorable Edward Oliver Wolcott, who departed 
this life on the first day of March, 1905. 

Mr. Wolcott was for many years a valued member of this 
Board. He assisted in the organization of the company and since 
its creation has been its general counsel. He has served the 
company with exceptional ability for the past nineteen years, 
and we desire to express our sincere appreciation of his ad- 
mirable qualities as a man, his great efficiency as the counsel 
of the company and the head of its legal department, and his 
valuable aid given to the company in many directions during 
his long association with it. 

The services which he rendered to his State and his country 
while holding the office of United States Senator make his loss 
a national one, while his lovable qualities as a man make that 
loss peculiarly poignant to his relatives and friends. 

This memorial is placed of record in the minutes of this 
Board as a slight tribute to his memory, and the secretary of 



364 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

this company is directed to send an engrossed copy of this reso- 
lution to the Honorable Henry R. Wolcott with assurances to him 
and his brothers and sisters of our deep sympathy in their day 
of affliction. 

E. T. Jeffery, President. 

As further evidence of the good feeling for Mr. Wolcott 
existing among the officials of the Denver and Rio Grande, 
the following letter of April 21, 1909, from Traffic Manager 
A. S. Hughes, is quoted : 

My acquaintance with Senator Wolcott runs back a great 
many years, to early in the seventies, when he was a young lawyer 
at Georgetown, later District Attorney, and afterward Senator 
from Clear Creek district. This was followed by a very pleas- 
ant association upon his removal to Denver, through our long 
connection with the Denver and Rio Grande, which began with 
both of us in 1880 or 1881. The Senator's brilliant attainments, 
his fame as an orator, and his distinguished career at the bar, 
are too well known to require comment from me. While I was 
not of his political faith, at the same time, in common with 
many others similarly situated, I — all of us, indeed, were pleased 
when he was made United States Senator for Colorado, as we 
knew in advance that he would attain the prominence which was 
accorded him in the Senate. 

LOOKING TO THE END 

Many of Mr. Wolcott's friends believe that when he left 
Denver the last time in November, 1904, he realized that 
probably he never would return. During his stay there he 
took a street-car ride to Fairmont Cemetery, and after look- 
ing it over and making a general inspection of the surround- 
ings he struck out across country and walked back to the 
city three or four miles away. Arrived at his home, he 
spoke much about the burial-place and told his friends that 
he desired to be interred there when he died. " Give me the 
blue skies for my canopy and the old Rockies for my monu- 
ment ! " he exclaimed with exuberance. Apparently he 
spoke in jest, but his listeners now believe that he foresaw 
the approaching end. Later, he told other friends that he 
desired that his body should rest near New York, and there 
his ashes lie. 



'NINETY-SIX AND AFTER 365 

There are other evidences that at that period his mind 
was occupied largely with the possibility of early dissolu- 
tion. His intimate friend A. M. Stevenson relates that on 
one occasion during this visit Mr. Wolcott went into the 
Denver Club just as he (Stevenson) was about to depart. 
He asked Stevenson to remain, and when the latter pleaded 
an engagement he urged him so persistently that ultimately 
he consented. " I want to talk with you," said Mr. Wol- 
cott. He and Mr. Stevenson then sat down and went over 
many matters together. Toward the close of the interview 
Mr. Wolcott said, addressing his friend familiarly : " Now, 
Stevey, I am going away, and I doubt very much whether I 
ever shall come back. Henry and I are going abroad for 
the benefit of his health, but the truth is that I am the 
sicker man of the two. I feel that present conditions cannot 
long continue, and, as I have said, I don't believe I shall 
ever see you again." 

Mr. Stevenson remonstrated with him, but with little 
effect, for later in the same day, at his own residence, as 
Mr. Stevenson relates the story, Mr. Wolcott brought up 
the subject again. Mr. Chisholm was then present, and Mr. 
Wolcott was making preparations to get away. He had 
been going over his will, and he tossed the document over 
to Chisholm, asking him to put it away. He then told Mr. 
Chisholm that he had not forgotten him in the will and 
suggested that he should read it. This Chisholm declined 
to do and the document was sealed up. 

Already two memorials have been erected to the memory 
of Mr. Wolcott, one of them a monument in Woodlawn 
Cemetery in New York, where his ashes are interred, and 
the other in Denver. The location of the burial-place is a 
solemnly attractive one, and the monument erected there by 
the loving hands of his brother is an elaborate and beautiful 
piece of marble, attesting at once the durability of the dead 
man's name and the splendor of his fame. The inscription 
on the head-stone is a bare notation of name and date of 
birth, as follows: 

Edward Oliver Wolcott, 
born march 26, 1848 — died march 1, 1903. 



366 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

The foot-stone contains the following: 

" Warm summer sun shine kindly here, 

Warm southern wind blow softly here, 

Green sod above lie light, lie light; — 

Good-night, — dear heart — good-night, — 

Good-night." 

The other memorial, the one in Denver, is a life-size 
portrait in a stained glass window in the Colorado State 
Capitol. It portrays Mr. Wolcott seated in reposeful atti- 
tude in his library, and is a very pleasing picture. The win- 
dow is in the rear of the Lieutenant-Governor's seat in the 
Senate Chamber, and is 5 x 9y 2 feet in size. It was pre- 
pared on an order from the State, given very soon after 
the Senator's death, and was placed in position in March, 
1906, just a year after that event. 




Wolcott Stained-Glass Window in the State 
Capitol at Denver. 



Characteristics 



367 



WOLCOTT THE MAN 

THE most striking characteristic of Mr. Wolcott was 
bigness. Tall and well rounded out, he rose physi- 
cally above the average man, and, whether taller or 
otherwise bigger of body, his eyes were more expressive ; his 
grip was stronger; his step was more energetic; his lan- 
guage readier and more to the point; his grasp of events 
quicker and more comprehensive; his generosity greater; his 
follies more extreme. Whatever he did, good or bad, he 
did on an unusual scale. There was no " half-way house " 
on his road. He must needs be a leader, never a follower. 
He must mingle and compete with the best and strongest, 
and surpass them. His contest was altogether with the 
sturdy; he found no pleasure in outrunning the slow, in 
outfighting the weak, in outwitting the dullard. He won 
fame as a lawyer; he assumed the leadership of a great 
State; he forced his way into the Senate and there soon 
ranked with the foremost in that body of established leaders ; 
he compelled a partially unwilling National Administration 
to keep the promise of its party in the interest of Interna- 
tional Bimetallism, and he came near to revolutionizing the 
world by forcing the double monetary standard upon it. He 
controlled men and dictated policies. He was a man of 
achievement, not the mere man of words that the popular 
speaker generally is. He possessed moral courage far be- 
yond the ordinary. His intellectual processes were swift, 
independent, and accurate; his mental vision broad and 
keen — penetrating, comprehensive. He always thought and 
acted on a large scale; he seemed to see all sides and all 
phases of a subject at the same time and at the first glance. 

VOL. I. -2,, 3 6 9 



370 EDWAKD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Baseness and meanness were foreign to his nature — petti- 
ness quite antipodal. He possessed such magnetism that 
involuntarily men were drawn to him. He was impulsive, 
but tenacious; intuitive, hut exact; quick, but strong and 
determined. In many respects he was what men call a 
genius. And if he possessed the good qualities of the genius 
he possessed also some of the bad. Was ever there a genius 
who had not eaten of the tree of knowledge of both good 
and evil? 

It is not intended that this shall be a record of the man's 
deeds only along the lines of the world's approval. At times 
he diverged from those lines, and the story of his life would 
not be correctly told without recognition of these delin- 
quencies; he would not himself have it so. 

What, then, were his faults? 

Their enumeration will not require great space. They 
were largely social, and were of a character which in an- 
other age and another land would scarcely have been con- 
sidered such. He drank with his friends, and occasionally 
drank more than he should; he smoked excessively at times, 
and he was fond of a game of chance. He swore upon 
occasion. In addition, it must be said that there were some 
phases of manner and temper which had their disagreeable 
aspect. Often he was petulant and brusque, and generally 
he was arbitrary in disposition. While ordinarily polite 
and agreeable under right conditions, he could be very exact- 
ing. He did not drink regularly, and he drank excessively 
only at rare intervals. He would continue for months with- 
out the use of either liquor or tobacco. Frequently he would 
say that he would not smoke or drink for a given time, and 
he would invariably refrain for the specified time, notwith- 
standing it frequently covered many months. His excessive 
betting was also spasmodic and infrequent. 

Whether all these characteristics or habits were serious 
faults or necessarily faults at all must depend upon the 
point of view from which they are observed. His brusque- 
ness of manner, for instance, unquestionably was the result 
of preoccupation and impatience due to the fact that the 
minds of others did not keep pace with his own. If he 






CHARACTERISTICS 371 

appeared arbitrary it was because of his conviction of right 
in any position he might take on a subject. To some his 
brusqueness and autocratic course might easily appear as 
natural consequences of his busy life and preoccupied mind. 
To others, to subordinates working under his direction, or 
to his equals engaged on the same task but differing from 
him, they seemed unreasonable and unnecessary. 

But all must agree on the one point that, whatever his 
shortcomings or derelictions, they may be traced to his tem- 
perament, which, nervous in high degree, caused him to 
appear varying, when in reality he was steadfast, and led 
him to do many things merely for the purpose of relieving 
a strained mental or physical state. 

It is no more the purpose to excuse these derelictions, 
so far as they were such, than to conceal them. Nor is there 
any intention of parading them in an attractive way for 
the enticement of others. It is not to be contended that 
they were any part of the man's greatness. Their necessary 
effect was to lessen his capacity and detract from his pres- 
tige. If he accomplished all that he did while indulging 
these propensities, he would have done more if he had kept 
them in complete subjugation. 

Indeed, what could not Ed Wolcott have been but for 
the social pastimes which stole away his time? But, on 
the other hand, does not such a nature demand relaxation, 
and did he not do wonders despite his excesses? 

And would he have been Ed Wolcott if he had been dif- 
ferent from what he was? 

He was a man of the world. He lived the life of the 
man of the world. He played his part both night and day, 
and he led the game all the time. 

A man of the world? A man of many worlds — of the 
political, the official, the business, the literary, the art, the 
travel, the social, the club world, and of the " about-town " 
world. He was a part of all these worlds, and he knew them 
all. His experience was wide, his life crowded. 

It is undeniable that Mr. Wolcott spent money freely 
when engaged in actual political combat, but it should be 
stated that he always strongly reprobated the corruption 
of the ballot. Never a niggard, never ungrateful, Mr. 



372 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Wolcott gave liberally for all legitimate purposes, and it is 
possible that inquiry as to legitimacy was not always as 
scrutinizing as it might have been. He paid the expenses 
of his campaigns, and, whether during a campaign or at 
any other time, he did not permit a political supporter to 
suffer. 

Frequent comment has been made upon the fact that 
Mr. Wolcott was not a man of detail and would not delve 
as laboriously into the intricacies of a lawsuit or of a piece 
of legislation as would others. It was not in him to do 
so, and, indeed, it may be seriously doubted whether, if he 
had attempted such a course, he would have been as suc- 
cessful as he was. It is not always the man of detail who 
accomplishes most in life. The proverb tells us that " the 
penny soul never comes to twopence." There is ever a pos- 
sibility of holding a small object so near the eye as to shut 
out all other objects, large or small. Most men have only 
a limited stock of energy, and if it be exhausted in one 
direction it will not be found available in another. He 
utilized the labor of other people, where that course could 
be pursued as well as not; but not to the disadvantage of 
client or constituent, for he found no difficulty in adapting 
the work of others, and he had few equals in discovering the 
salient points in a given case and in marshalling them for ef- 
fective presentation. His was a policy of conservation. He 
did not wear himself out on small matters or on work that 
was uncongenial, and hence was prepared to deal with large 
problems when they presented themselves. On the other 
hand, no one labored more tirelessly over a task that could 
not be delegated to others. The preparation of his speeches 
is an example. No toil was too severe, no detail too trifling, 
for him in that work. Fortunately, he had the capacity 
for the larger work, and in " passing up " the drudgery of 
small things he did not thus deprive himself of all oppor- 
tunity, as has many another who has had the aspirations 
without the ability of our subject. 

To those who knew him only casually, Mr. Wolcott seemed 
a man without a care. He seldom appeared in public when 
not in jovial good humor. But, while such was his pre- 



CHARACTERISTICS 373 

railing disposition, he was not always cheerful nor always 
in good humor. On the contrary, he not only occasionally 
was resentful, but often was despondent. 

His anger scarcely deserved the name. It generally took 
the shape of irritation due to impatience with conditions 
which were not such as his orderly mind demanded. At 
such times he could be and often was disagreeable to the 
delinquent. But the storm did not continue long. He did 
not hold resentment, and when he offended he usually was 
quick to show contrition, and even to make apology, if the 
offence called for such a course. In case of prolonged con- 
flict, he would fight on day after day and year after year, 
but not with personal hatred. 

Not so short-lived, but more deep-seated, were his periods 
of depression. When he became despondent, he would re- 
tire from the world, seeing as few people as circumstances 
would permit, and getting rid of those he did see as expe- 
ditiously as he could. 

To this tendency to melancholy some of Mr. Wol- 
cott's more intimate friends attribute many of his most 
pronounced faults and greatest excesses. They say that 
to such moods invariably could be traced his resort to 
liquor in unusual quantity. And, pursuing the baneful in- 
fluence further, they declare that it always was while con- 
trolled by liquor that he risked his money foolishly 
and in excessive sums in the gambling resorts. Following 
the drinking, there generally was a reaction, and it was 
then that, with nerves unstrung and everything distorted, 
he would permit his irritability to get the better of him, caus- 
ing him to do and say unjust and unkind things. Thus, not 
only the gambling tendency, but the irascibility and even 
the drinking itself were due to a mental characteristic such 
as is not always easily controlled. 

At times his periods of despondency seemed irresistible. 
Possessed of an unusually impressionable nature, he was 
quick to feel the influence of surrounding conditions. If 
these were agreeable, he was genial and merry beyond most 
men. He was easily bored and would not remain in un- 
congenial company or an unpleasant social atmosphere if he 
could get away. He was far more quickly discouraged by 



374 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

adverse conditions than was popularly supposed, and when 
apparently the situation was beyond control, for a time 
he would give way to despondency. At other times the 
mood would take possession of him without apparent rea- 
son. But, be the origin of the depression what it might, he 
occasionally resorted to the use of intoxicants for relief from 
it, at times going farther than was dictated by prudence. 
It was on such occasions that he made his record as a 
" plunger." 

This despondent tendency became noticeable to Mr. Wol- 
cott himself when a very young man, and he regarded it 
as hereditary. We find him mentioning it in his letters 
from Cambridge while in the law school there, and his Nor- 
wich cousin, Mr. A. P. Carroll, who was closely associated 
with him as a young man, noted the trait when, after ob- 
taining his law degree at Harvard, Ed was preparing to 
start to Colorado and to enter upon his career. Mr. Carroll 
says that Ed's grandfather Pope had advanced $500 to 
him and that it seemed such a paltry sum with which to 
begin life that, when he was leaving Norwich, he was greatly 
depressed. " I went with him to the station," says Carroll, 
" and as we sat outside the depot, overlooking the river, I 
shall never forget the deep cast-down tone in which he said : 
' I feel far more inclined to plunge into the water yonder 
and end it all than to board the coming train, and face 
what is before me.' " 

Another notable instance of the manifestation of this 
disposition was observable when in 1896 Mr. Wolcott re- 
tired to Wolhurst, practically refusing for days to see any 
one, because of the state of mind superinduced by the 
complicated political conditions of the period. He also 
was much more deeply depressed over the failure of 
the Bimetallic Commission than the world ever knew. 
He never recovered from the treatment he received from 
his fellow-Republicans in 1902-3, when he was ostra- 
cized by a large faction and his return to the Senate 
prevented. 

But, while unquestionably it is true that Mr. Wolcott's 
depressed periods had a vast influence in causing his de- 
parture from the beaten paths, they were not entirely re- 






CHARACTERISTICS 375 

sponsible for this course. His was a unique and a varied 
character, and by no means all of his habits were traceable 
to any one trait. Excitement seemed essential to him. His 
love of change was unquenchable. Of an intense nature, his 
mind must be occupied. He must be looking at or hear- 
ing something new; he could not and would not endure the 
humdrum of the ordinary. The fact that the path was 
beaten was in itself sufficient to drive him from it in mat- 
ters of entertainment, Routine was well enough for others, 
but would not do for him. If he smoked or drank, or played 
pool, or bought " futures," or poked the enemy in the ribs, 
he did so largely because there was coming to be too much 
sameness in life. If awake, he must be doing something, 
and he never slept so long as there was " something doing." 
It has been said, and truly, that every moment of his life 
was lived intensely. He did everything with zeal and with 
all his soul. He devoured books. If he spoke, he gave 
utterance to the best in him. If he worked, he worked 
hard; if he played, he played zealously. He was most loyal 
to his friends; his enemies he let alone — intensely. If he 
was for you, he was strongly for you; if against you, he 
would exert himself to the utmost ; he " nailed his enemies 
to the cross." Success was a passion with him. He always 
played to win, and in a way all phases of life were a game 
to him. If he gambled, he " went the limit." When a boy 
he often attended three church services in one day; after he 
grew to manhood, he would " take in " three or four theatres 
in an evening. One has said of him that he had " the in- 
temperate temperament." 

Necessarily there must be another side to so tense a na- 
ture. Periods of depression were as inevitable as that the 
pendulum of the clock which swings one way must alter- 
nately swing in the other direction. 

But, as a rule, the depressed period was comparatively 
brief. Generally, he was cheerful, frequently jolly. Good 
nature was his predominating state of mind. Ordinarily, 
he was the inspiring spirit of any company, and any social 
occasion in which he long was a participant was sure to be 
gay. No one enjoyed a jest more than he, and much of 
his ordinary conversation was in the lighter vein. At home 



376 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

he was the life of the household, and without him no 
gathering of his friends was complete. 

With all his frailties and all his talents, Ed Wolcott was 
the most generous, the most magnanimous, the most appre- 
ciative, of mortals. He never forsook a friend, and he 
seldom punished an enemy. He gave lavishly to the unfortu- 
nate, and his pity for those in distress knew no bounds. He 
was frankness itself. 

There was no limit to his gratitude. Benefits conferred 
were never forgot and never unrequited. Indeed, he did not 
permit any opportunity for manifesting appreciation to pass 
without availing himself of it. Proof of this statement is 
found in his attitude toward his father and his brother 
Henry — indeed in his attitude toward all of his family. He 
never tired of aiding the younger members of the household, 
and he joined generously with Henry in providing for the 
comfort of their father and mother in their declining years. 

As with members of the family, so with friends. None 
of them served him in vain. When convinced of the loyalty 
of a political follower, no amount of abuse — nothing 
short of conviction of personal dishonesty — could impair his 
attachment or diminish his support. This characteristic was 
tested to the utmost in the trying days of the renaissance 
of the Republican party of Colorado from 1900 to 1905. 
Most of the calumniation of him in that time of triumph and 
tribulation was based upon his retention of certain of his 
followers in the Federal offices. But he did not let them 
out. " How can I ? " he would ask, and then by way of 
explanation would add, almost pathetically : " They stood 
with me in ? 96, you know." 

No person ever was franker in speaking of bad habits than 
Mr. Wolcott, and none could or did more thoroughly appre- 
ciate their baneful effect. His letters to his parents teem 
with references to his faults and show that he made many 
efforts to permanently break away from them, as he often 
temporarily did. He repeatedly told his friends that he es- 
pecially wished he could refrain entirely from the use of 
intoxicating liquors. " I know that when under their in- 
fluence I am not the man I am at other times," he said over 



CHARACTERISTICS 377 

and again. When told of some friend who was falling into 
the drinking habit, he would say : " Tell him to cut it out 
— it will get the best of him; he ought not to drink if he 
can't stop short of getting full." 

But if he drank he did not try to conceal the fact from 
any one. Indeed, he was more apt to exaggerate the fault 
and make more of it than conditions warranted. Deprecat- 
ing his use of liquor to any excess, and distressed when it 
caused him to depart from conventional paths, he did not 
shrink from discussing the circumstances in a given case. 
If occasion required, he would speak of them to his minister- 
father or his pious mother as freely as to any one else. 
He was not given to secret sins. 

No one ever came more honestly by a characteristic than 
did Mr. Wolcott by his frankness. It was one of the many 
likable traits derived from his father. Writing as far back 
as 1836, a classmate of Dr. Wolcott's at Andover speaks 
of that gentleman's candor as one of his " faults." Fault 
it may not have been in either the father or the son, but 
one may imagine that it could be easily so regarded by a 
fellow-student, even in a theological school. But, whether 
the characteristic was abnormal or not, it was inherent in 
both the elder and the younger Wolcott, They concealed 
nothing for fear of the ill effect of publicity upon themselves. 

A friend of both Senator Wolcott and his father has ad- 
mirably portrayed the quality in the following: 

" I should say that with both Dr. Wolcott and his son 
frankness was neither a fault nor, perhaps, a virtue, but an 
instinct — a native endowment, like the leopard's spots — an 
inalienable inheritance — together with the wide-open blue 
eyes which gave it expression. They loved frankness, and 
there was not one particle of guile in either of them." 

Senator W T olcott had no secrets except those the telling 
of which might affect injuriously other people. 

He would never deny or shirk a slur if it was based on 
the truth, and often the very boldness of his candor dis- 
armed criticism. When charged with the possession of 
habits, any one of which would break an ordinary man, 
instead of challenging the assertion he would concede it and 
add that it was worse than represented. In consequence 



378 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

of this trait, the fact became impressed upon his associates 
that in spite of vices there was one individual who could 
command respect by reason of the abnormal strength of his 
personality and the possession of a host of compensating 
virtues. On account of these characteristics, Mr. Wolcott 
has been compared to Alcibiades, who, as a boy and as he 
approached manhood, led the gilded youth of Greece in all 
their follies, but as a grown man abandoned all such excesses 
and became the leader of the armies of Athens and the 
restorer of her liberty. 

The fact that Mr. Wolcott spoke so freely of his short- 
comings, seeking neither to conceal nor extenuate, should 
be kept constantly in mind in considering his self-deprecia- 
tory expressions. He did not pretend to be better than 
he was. Indeed, he was a much better man mentally and 
morally than he claimed to be. His bad side was more often 
exposed to view than his good side. Many of his meritorious 
acts of charity and kindness were known only to himself 
and those to whom they brought benefit, relief, and en- 
couragement. He did not discuss his charities, and an in- 
timate knowledge of his character and daily life, making 
all due allowance for shortcomings of which the public was 
made only too well aware, only added to the esteem in which 
he was held by those who really knew him. 

But he was the soul of honor, and though he did not 
attempt to hide his own transgressions, he said little or 
nothing of those of others, and he never discussed to their 
injury the secret affairs of his friends. In business trans- 
actions, he was scrupulously punctilious and most careful of 
his good name. 

These pages teem with instances of the man's indepen- 
dence, courage, and sincerity. If his conscience or his judg- 
ment was opposed to a given course in politics or in business 
he did not permit his own policy to be dictated by numbers; 
and when he decided upon a line of action it was ever con- 
trolled by honesty of purpose. His method of proceeding 
always was such as to supply the best evidence of his lack 
of fear. When his conscience and conviction were aroused 
he did not count the consequences to himself. 



CHARACTERISTICS 379 

Mr. Wolcott's tenacity has been remarked upon. He 
would not " let go." This trait of character was as notice- 
able when he was a boy as it was after he grew older. Mem- 
bers of his family still recall that when in 1864 he started 
to the war, he proudly refused to accept aid in carrying his 
accoutrement as he marched with his regiment through 
Euclid Avenue in Cleveland. He was a strapping fellow, 
large for his age; but he was very young, and, quite un- 
seasoned as he was to severe physical exertion, the ordeal 
was a severe tax upon his powers of endurance. Much 
" winded " though he was, he bore up to the end, declining 
proffered assistance from first to last. He had enlisted to 
be a soldier, and he meant from the first to show that he 
possessed the physical requisites for the service. The same 
fixedness of purpose characterized his entire life; but, of 
course, in his more mature years his zeal was tempered with 
a greater degree of wisdom. When he set out to accom- 
plish something he did not desist until he had triumphed or 
until success was plainly out of the question. 

He could not listen placidly to useless and pointless talk. 
When waiting for a situation to develop or when in com- 
mittee meetings or other consultation, he generally wore an 
air of impatience. On such occasions his manner depended 
entirely on the course of events. If matters were running 
to his liking, his eyes were atwinkle, and he frequently 
would interrupt the proceeding with some witty remark or 
pertinent story. If the problem to be solved was a knotty 
one, or if there was unreasonable or unexpected opposition, 
his displeasure was made manifest by physical movement 
ratber than by verbal expression. If the situation was dis- 
pleasing, he was a veritable caged lion. He would stride 
from one end of the room to the other, stop suddenly to 
look at a picture or other object, and start impatiently, his 
hands jammed deep into his pockets, face and figure showing 
in every lineament and outline that conditions were of such 
a nature that he feign would get away from them. He 
never, however, overlooked a fact nor failed to make a point 
when it occurred to him. On such occasions he did not 
enter into long arguments, but spoke sententiously and with 
telling effect. If he was largely responsible, as when chair- 



380 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

man of a committee, he was insistent, often to the point of 
being considered arbitrary. If not especially answerable, 
or if clearly in the minority, he would enter his protest, 
give his reasons in a few clear-cut sentences, and sub- 
side, continuing his pace until the close of the meeting. If 
presiding, he of course retained his seat; — but then he kept 
himself so occupied mentally as to obviate the necessity 
for physical exercise. 

In support of these general statements, a number of 
anecdotes and personal reminiscences have been collected. 
It is believed that they will afford a better idea of the 
character of the man than could any dissertation, however 
accurate or extended. Most of them are from intimate 
friends, and either relate real incidents in Mr. Wolcott's 
life or give the personal views of those who were close to 
him and had an opportunity to study him at first hand. 

But even with these aids it is difficult to portray the 
actual man. This is true because of his varying character. 
Presenting one characteristic, you are liable to discover traits 
that would seem to call for a diametrically different por- 
trayal. The solution is found in the fact that he was not 
always the same man, or, rather, that he did not at all times 
present the same phases of character. When he worked he 
worked with might and main, and yet he did not work for 
the love of labor. Apparently a man of leisure, he turned 
out more work than others. He was a business man and 
yet was fond of society. He allowed others to do much of 
his investigating, but no one was more thorough in his 
mastery of a lawsuit or a piece of legislation. Reading was 
a passion with him, but he was easily lured from his books. 
He would borrow from one friend to give to another. He 
was austere, yet kind; aristocratic in bearing, but easily 
moved by the recital of any tale of woe. Strong and firm 
in essentials, he was weak and yielding in minor matters. 
Merry and of good cheer generally, he could be moody and 
despondent at times. He appeared the boldest of men ; we 
shall see that he was the timidest. He moralized, almost 
preached, and still disobeyed some of the Commandments. 
He was not the same man to different persons, because he 



CHARACTERISTICS 381 

was seen under different auspices. What wonder, in view 
of these facts, if some of the characterizations appear con- 
tradictory and some of the anecdotes seem not to fit ! 

ESTIMATES OF SOME WHO KNEW HIM 

We have heard from Justices Harlan and Brewer; from 
Senators Teller, Hale, Aldrich, Lodge, and Penrose; from 
his former law partners, John G. Milburn and Joel P. 
Vaile, and from such political associates in Colorado as 
A. M. Stevenson, Judge John Campbell of the Colorado 
Supreme Court, and United States Marshal Dewey C. 
Bailey. 

Justice Brewer has supplied something more than the 
testimonial printed as a part of the foreword. In an ex- 
tended interview granted the writer, he said : 

I knew Senator Wolcott well. I became acquainted with 
him while I was United States Circuit Judge in the Ninth Cir- 
cuit. Colorado is in that Circuit, and I met him first in Denver 
in 1884. The acquaintance continued until the Senator's death 
in 1905, and we were thrown together at frequent intervals. I 
liked and admired him for his many excellent qualities. He 
was a good lawyer in that he never piled up a lot of useless 
matter. It was his habit in presenting his cases to pick out 
two or three strong points. He was an analyzer, and he did 
not waste either his time or the time of the Court. He selected 
the points decisive of the cases he cited, and he did not read 
many authorities. He would argue briefly the principal ques- 
tions at issue, and let the rest go. Thus he avoided confusing 
the Court and made sure that every point counted. 

Independence was a strong characteristic with the man, and 
he was as courageous as he was independent. He was perfectly 
honest with himself. He followed his own reasoning and his 
own conclusions. He stood by his convictions. He did not sur- 
render to the popular view, nor did he consider that it was 
anything out of the way for him not to do so. He did not feel 
that he was doing a brave thing in holding out for his own ideas, 
for to do so was natural with him. He spoke his own opinions 
and did so naturally. The water flowed from the rock, and it 
was the pure water of his own thought. It did n't make a bit 
of difference what others thought. Some men who talk bravely 
think they are courageous simply because they so talk; but he 



382 EDWAKD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

did n't have that feeling at all. He unconsciously " talked it 
out," and he voiced his convictions regardless of the consequences 
to himself. He would oppose your views without hesitation. If 
he did not agree with you, " out it came." I believe that if I 
had said something on the Bench which did not appeal to him, 
he would have opposed me. Of course he would not have said 
anything indecorous, but he would have met me as man to man 
after I had left the Bench. He had opinions on everything that 
was within the reach of ordinary intelligence, and he expressed 
them whenever he felt called upon to do so. He did not care a 
cent for anybody's opinion if convinced in his own mind. I 
was in Denver when he was expecting to run for the Senate. 
There was a Republican meeting, and as usual there were sharp 
divisions on local questions. He went to the meeting and made 
a speech in which he sharply criticised some of the persons who 
were supporting him. He did not name them, but assailed their, 
principles, and left no doubt as to who was meant. I remember 
hearing his friends say he was a fool to attack men to whom 
he was looking for support. But they were mistaken as to the 
effect, for the speech did n't hurt him. 

I heard Mr. Wolcott frequently in Court, and I also heard 
him deliver his speech at the Minneapolis Convention in 1892, 
placing Blaine in nomination for the Presidency. His man was 
not successful, but he made a magnificent plea for him. Blaine 
was the kind of man that would appeal to him, and his splendid 
voice and thrilling language created a fine effect. He did not 
talk for more than twenty minutes, but, as usual, he struck 
to the centre. 

Wolcott was not only an able man, but he was a lovable 
man. We all knew his weaknesses; but we loved him for his 
perfect sincerity and for his generous nature. He did a great 
many humane acts. While he was general counsel for W. S. 
Jackson (Helen Hunt's husband), when Jackson was Receiver 
for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, there was a strike on 
the line in which a little blood was shed. Some of the strikers 
were arrested and were to be tried in the United States Court 
sitting in Denver. Judge Hallett did not want to sit in the 
case, and I was sent for. Only few knew that I was to be 
there to act. After I arrived, and before I went on the Bench, 
Ed came to me in the packed court-room, and urged that as the 
wife of one of the men was ill, he should be let off " as easy 
as possible." I had a private talk with the man, who confessed 
that he had been one of the offenders. I asked him if he thought 



CHARACTERISTICS 383 

he had done right, to which question he replied that he only 
went into it to be with the rest. I told him we did not want 
to deal harshly with him, and, receiving his promise that he 
would make no more trouble, I released him. He went back 
to work and kept his promise. 

But while he was generous, Wolcott was not always dis- 
creet in his charity. He would give to a beggar on the street 
without making any inquiry, and he always gave liberally. He 
did everything in a big way. He was the luckiest fellow you 
ever saw. In those days I was very fond of whist and was 
invited around to the Denver Club to play when in Denver. No 
betting was allowed between players in the public room, but 
the making of bets by onlookers was not covered by the rules. 
When Ed came in he would go around among the players and 
bet on half the games, and he would win four times out of 
five. On one occasion he came to my table and asked, " How do 
you stand, Judge?" 

" They have one game on the rubber and four points out of 
five on the second, while we have n't any," I answered. 

" I will bet five dollars you win," he said without a moment's 
hesitation. 

I replied: "Ed, what are you talking about? We have no 
chance at all." 

Some one put up the money against him, and he won. 

He seemed to have an instinct for winning. He would run 
all through the room, and, looking at one after another of the 
players' hands, would make bets here and there as he went. In- 
tuition seemed to guide him, and the mere fact that he would 
lay a wager on a player seemed to increase the man's chances. 

Wolcott was a man of tremendous vitality. Starting early 
in the morning he would go until late at night, and he was on 
the jump all the time. I knew in those days a man who had 
gone from Leavenworth to Georgetown, where Wolcott lived 
before going to Denver, and he told me about Wolcott's powers 
of endurance. This man was one of the characters of the fron- 
tier. He had been a scout in the Union Army in the South- 
west, and was a fine fellow. He was capable of " going some " 
himself, and he told me that Wolcott was equal to any demands in 
a test of endurance. Every little while they would go down to 
Denver together, and twenty-four or thirty-six hours was nothing 
to them; they never stopped while away from home. 

To sum up : Mr. Wolcott was a man of engaging personality ; 
a lawyer of splendid insight; an orator of convincing power. 



384 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

His success in life was marked, but it was not beyond his 
deserts. He was absolutely honest in his views, and we have 
had few public men who were so courageous in expressing their 
real convictions. Whether in private or public life he thought 
for himself, and he was never swerved from a purpose by self- 
interest or public clamor. I was familiar with his career for 
twenty years, and I had sincere admiration and real attachment 
for him. 

With Justice Brewer's estimate of Mr. Wolcott's power 
of analysis agrees perfectly that of Mr. Morrison, Mr. Wol- 
cott's old-time Georgetown-Denver friend. 

The especial quality that expressed this force and made a 
leader of Mr. Wolcott [says Mr. Morrison], was the faculty to 
generalize the facts of a complicated lawsuit or of a political 
campaign so as to take in at one glance and to state in spe- 
cific terms the decisive point in such suit or campaign. The 
weak spot being seen, all aid was hurried to that point — just as 
a general sees the wavering bend in a line of battle and hurries 
his troops to that place, knowing that if the repulse is there 
complete all other parts of the line will right themselves. Such 
capacity makes the leader not the laborer, not the soldier but 
the captain. 

Let us next hear from Hon. Chas. S. Thomas, former 
Governor of Colorado, who was Henry Wolcott's successful 
rival for gubernatorial honors in the Centennial State in 
1S98, and Senator Wolcott's Democratic antagonist in many 
stubbornly contested political fields. He writes: 

Mr. Wolcott was very strong in his likes and dislikes. In- 
deed, he was built upon a large scale. There was nothing meagre 
about his mental qualities, whether good or bad; what he did 
he did with all his might. It was difficult for him to be negative 
in anything. 

His worst enemy never could accuse him either of hypocrisy 
or deceit. He was not only outspoken in opposition, but aggres- 
sively so. He could not criticise an enemy unless he did it in 
so pointed and personal a manner as to deprive his statements 
of the least suspicion of insinuation. He loved a fight, and 
seemed at times to be never so happy as when engaged in one 
that involved practically all the members of his immediate com- 



CHARACTERISTICS 385 

munity. This was true whether the quarrel were personal, so- 
cial, or political, or whether, if political, the quarrel involved 
his adversaries in his own or the opposite party. 

Mr. Wolcott enjoyed and suffered very keenly. Yet his love 
of approbation never weighed a feather in the scale against 
his determination once formed to do or to say things which 
were sure to encounter opposition. On the other hand, the cer- 
tainty of censure and abuse, with its inevitable pain, was equally 
unavailing. What he determined to do, that he did, and what 
he determined to say he said, seemingly unmindful of the con- 
sequences to himself. Hence, his public life alternated in quick 
successions of pleasure and torment. 

His temperament was intensely nervous. When excited, or 
when interested, or impatient, he paced the room with swift 
footsteps, only halting to make some statement or suggestion. 
I saw him on one occasion, while smarting under the jibes and 
cartoons of a Denver morning paper. He was furious with in- 
dignation, but said he tried to comfort himself with the reflec- 
tion that no man in America had ever been hanged for killing 
an editor. 

He was generous to prodigality. I never knew a man who 
cared so little for money except as a means to satisfy his wants 
or desires. His contributions to the various charitable enter- 
prises, and to others of less deserving nature, were generally 
so large as to demoralize other contributors in the profession 
when confronted with his donations. On the other hand, he 
never seemed to need money, as his practice was very large 
and his clients abundantly appreciative of his good work. 

His refusal to leave the Republican party in 1896 unques- 
tionably cost him his popularity and standing in Colorado. At 
that time the question of bimetallism was more than acute. It 
became synonymous with State loyalty, and no man in public 
life could even seem to be lukewarm in its behalf and remain 
in public office. But it was characteristic of Wolcott, after de- 
termining upon his course, to adhere to it regardless of results to 
himself, his friends, or his party. Of course, I could not approve 
of it personally, or commend it politically; yet I could not but 
admire the sublime courage which such a course demanded, and 
which he at all times displayed in breasting the waves of oppo- 
sition and calumny, standing almost alone, denounced in public 
and in private, and virtually ostracized by the overwhelming 
public sentiment of the day. It was an epoch in his life, and 
the bitterness of his subsequent defeat doubtless shortened his 



386 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

davs. Yet he lived long enough to perceive, as well as to en- 
joy, a decided moderation of public sentiment. There is no 
doubt that his efforts in 1897 and 1898 to obtain some inter- 
national agreement in behalf of silver were sincere and earnest, 
and they would doubtless have been successful, if the Adminis- 
tration had vigorously supported him, and given him that official 
countenance which his political importance and that of his 
mission demanded. 

Senator Wolcott was not a popular man as the term itself 
is generally understood. He held himself aloof from the general 
mass, and while he always advocated the public welfare and the 
rights of the individual, he seldom mingled with the mass or 
resorted to the usual arts of the politician. He was neither 
cold nor reserved in his intercourse with men and audiences, 
but, on the other hand, he never pretended to that intimacy and 
familiarity which is universally observable in candidates during 
campaigns. Yet I do not think that he ever weakened himself 
or his party by this attitude. It was impossible for him to pre- 
tend an intimacy and familiarity which he did not feel, and 
his very attitude was an indication of his honesty of plan and 
purpose. 

He had but few close and intimate friends. His companion- 
ships were therefore limited to an unusual degree for the public 
man. With these he sometimes had serious differences, but in 
general he retained their respect and confidence, albeit he some- 
times severed his close relations with them. His life was a suc- 
cess socially, professionally, and politically, and his memory 
should at all times be cherished as that of one of Colorado's 
greatest citizens. 

Former Chief Justice John Campbell of the Colorado 
Supreme Court has supplied the following estimate of some 
phases of Mr. Wolcott's character: 

To those who saw him only on the platform, heard the im- 
petuous flow of eloquence, the biting sarcasm, the provoking 
irony, the fearless attack upon the powerful, the dauntless as- 
sault on the intrenched, his jaunty bearing, the boldness of his 
argument, his wonderful ease of manner, and felt the charm 
and yielded to the fascinating spell of his mellifluous voice — it 
must have seemed that timidity had no place in Mr. Wolcott's 
mental equipment. The early friends, however, know that he was 
naturally disinclined to public speaking, and when he made his 



CHARACTERISTICS 387 

first political campaign for district attorney, stage fright almost 
demoralized him. Once, in a conversation with him, in response 
to an assertion that he was not a good mixer, he admitted it 
to be so, and said that natural shyness incapacitated him for 
that role. I remember well the word he used, because it im- 
pressed me at that time as expressing the exact truth. 

He was not a vain or egotistical man. Rather was he modest 
and as far as possible removed from boasting. Well he knew 
his own powers and limitations, and, with that knowledge in 
mind, he was careful to confine his activities within the range 
of the former, and equally scrupulous to observe the laws of 
the latter. 

It might be a difficult task to convince those who knew him 
only at second hand that he had patience, and could, when 
occasion required, exercise a rare self-restraint. The impetu- 
osity of his attacks, the fierceness of his onslaughts on traducers 
of his character, the apparent zest with which he girded on his 
armor for battle, might cause one to conclude that he coveted 
opposition and solicited controversy out of sheer love of fight- 
ing. These qualities seem, at first blush, inconsistent with 
self-repression. But under as trying an ordeal of abuse and vi- 
tuperation as a public man ever encounters, under false charges 
of personal misconduct that caused him infinite pain, stun* to the 
very quick by the grossest perversions of his attitude toward 
great questions of state, he at times exhibited a patience and 
practised a self-control which were the admiration of friends 
and the consternation and refutation of enemies. Do not infer 
that he did not often strike back with blows that annihilated 
his adversary; but, as he would say, life was too short, and 
there was too much of earnest, useful work to do, to stop for 
reply to every carping critic who, by slandering others, sou-ht 
to attract attention to himself. & 

Mr. Wolcott's friend Voorhies, who knew him from the 
eany days in Georgetown to the time of his death, says of 
his general character : 

I believe I can truly say that in all these years, wherever the 
atmosphere was congenial— at dinners, in the ballroom, or the 
court-room, or in general conversation— I have never met anv 
one anywhere who was Ed Wolcott's equal for fine presence and 
bright sayings. He possessed a magnetism and charm that were 
well-nigh irresistible and indescribable. At all times, even when 



388 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

suffering from pain, he could think of and say something in 
quite his own way that would drive away gloom as sunlight 
does the mist. 

He was the boy grown up. His exuberance of spirit, his 
trust in his friends, his petulance, and short-lived irritability 
were those of a boy. On the other hand, he was capable of 
really serious moods, and he could give the closest attention 
to any matter that was up for discussion. His power of appeal 
and invective was tremendous. 

At the Memorial Services held in Denver immediately 
after the death of Senator Wolcott, his former law partner, 
Joel F. Vaile, who knew whereof he spoke, used this 
language : 

Mr. Wolcott was a man of phenomenal intellectual powers. 
Facile and sure in his mental operations, I have never known 
any other man who could so quickly grasp all the features of 
a complicated problem; who could so readily unravel all the 
tangled threads of a difficult subject and weave them into a 
fabric displaying their logical relations and significance. He 
had the power of rapid and accurate generalization. This 
quality made him not only powerful in argument, but invaluable 
as a counsellor. 

Cy Warman, the Colorado-Canadian poet, contributes 
the following, showing characteristics of the man : 

Senator Wolcott was one of the best friends I had in Colo- 
rado. When I undertook the establishment of a daily paper in 
Creede, I " touched " the Senator gently because I knew that he 
knew that I was a Democrat— blown in the bottle— but I had 
only hinted that I was forming a little stock company to estab- 
lish a daily in the silver camp, when he shut me off by saying, 
" Splendid ! Good idea ! " 

Here my conscience began to cramp me, and I said : " But 
you know, Senator, I am a Democrat." 

" Yes, but before everything else you are Cy Warman, and 
you are my friend." 

Well, I got the Last Chance check, and that was the last 
chance they had to say good-bye to it. The repeal of the Sher- 
man Law put Creede out of business. Bob Ford was killed, 
Slanting Annie contracted pneumonia and went away, Soapy 



CHARACTERISTICS 389 

Smith left town, the daily Chronicle gave a few convulsive gasps, 
stiffened, and succumbed, and so Senator Wolcott's contribution, 
along with those of D. H. Moffat and other " angels," went to 
the melting pot. 

Senator Wolcott never forgot his friends, though sometimes 
he got them mixed. I called to see him merely to say, " Howdy " 
at the Senate in 1895. He greeted me warmly enough, if I had 
not known the Western hand-shake that he handed out at Denver 
and Creede. 

" I am glad you came in,"' said he. " I want to thank you 
for the way you fitted up these rooms for me," and he glanced 
up and about, and went on telling me how I had just hit off his 
choice. 

When he slowed down and stopped, I said to him : " Sen- 
ator, have you any idea who I am, and what I am here for?" 

He looked perplexed and asked, " Are you not the gentleman 
who decorated these rooms ? " 

Then I broke the real news to him. I had been abroad for 
a couple of years and had not seen him for four or five years. 
He took both of my hands now, and backing away brought me 
to a window and looked me over. " Xow," said he, " I hope 
you won't hold this against me, Cy, and I am awfully glad you 
came in. Charlie Thomas quoted a poem of yours against me 
in Denver the other night, and I want you to know that I 
know that poem was not written for me, but for another party 
altogether." 

" Well, Senator," said I, " that is just one of the things I 
came here to say to you — that that tin was tied to another dog's 
tail and not to yours at all." 

And so we parted with a new understanding and with our 
friendship unmarred, and we never met again. 

SOME INSTANCES 

The magnetism of Mr. W T olcott has been remarked by 
almost all of his commentators. It was one of the secrets 
of his success, and it was manifested early in life in a per- 
suasiveness that was almost beyond resistance. We have 
seen how that as a child Wolcott's parents and grandparents 
recognized his commanding presence. Both as boy and man 
he was the centre of any group in which he chanced to be; 
he was ever the grand seigneur. His eldest brother, Samuel 
Wolcott, relates that when he and Ed were boys of about 



390 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

the high-school age, they took a boat-ride down New York 
harbor, probably to Staten Island, and went to a resort 
which consisted of a large room. They found there a crowd 
of men, at a fishing club, and he says that within half an 
hour Ed was the centre of the entire assembly, although he 
was only a boy, and the others were men and strangers. 
The same thing happened many years afterward at a Yale 
alumni dinner in Denver, as his brother Herbert reports: 
" Ed," he says, " came in late, after the guests had gath- 
ered around the speaker's table. He took a seat at the foot 
of the table, and in a remarkably short time all shifted their 
seats and grouped around him. In that case, as generally 
happened where he was, ' the head of the table was where 
McGregor sat' " 

When Mr. Wolcott was in the Colorado State Senate, 
Mr. Tabor, as Lieutenant-Governor, presided, and seemed by 
the manner of announcing the votes to recognize Wolcott's 
pre-eminence. He would look toward him as he would an- 
nounce the result in a hotly contested matter, and say: 
" You 've got it," or " You 've lost it "; " 20 to 7," or what- 
ever the vote might be, apparently never stopping to think 
that any one else might be concerned. 

An observing visitor to the gallery of the United States 
Senate once said after departing : " Most of the Senators 
come in with an air of apology; but that man Wolcott acts 
as if he owned the place. He assumes the part of host, and 
the others appear to recognize him as such." 

His Norwich cousin, Mr. A. P. Carroll, relates the fol- 
lowing instance of the effect of his persuasive powers even 
when a boy: 

A gold mine was being promoted on Wauwecus Hill near 
this city. It was listed on the New York Exchange in the 
'60's, though never an ounce of gold was ever extracted. Ed 
and I drove out to it one day — beyond doubt the first mine he 
ever visited. A typical hermit guarded the entrance, far back 
from the highway, in a deep ravine, who upon our approach 
was as set and mum as possible. Yet Ed soon coddled him in 
such a way that he laid bare all of his fairy expectations. 

A younger brother recalls that in boyhood days, when 






CHARACTERISTICS 391 

garnered pennies were few and the members of the family 
were many, the narrator started off one Saturday morning 
with a sum of money, the amount exactly known to all the 
family, but hardly exceeding a dollar, and spent the day in 
buying Christmas presents for the household. After he was 
in bed that night, Ed came to his room and asked him what 
he had bought for the various other members of the family. 
The junior guilelessly told him what the presents were, and 
what was the cost of each, whereupon Ed, computing the 
total and deducting it from the amount at the beginning, 
and bearing in mind his fondness at that time for minstrel 
shows, drew his inference, and said, " You bought me a dime 
song-book," which was the fact. 

As illustrating Mr. Wolcott's capacity for concentration 
and his determination to remain undisturbed when engaged 
in mental effort, as well as his liberal inclination, one of 
his former private secretaries relates an interesting incident. 
It occurred during Mr. Wolcott's Senatorial career, and 
he was engaged in dictating a speech. As the amanuensis re- 
lates the circumstance, the Senator was pacing up and down 
the room in his usual impatient manner, holding tightly 
grasped between his teeth a cigar, at which at intervals 
he puffed with the vigor of a locomotive, while he snapped 
out his usual telling sentences in short, crisp, and forcible 
words, — when there came a rap upon the door. He stopped 
suddenly in both his walk and his talk and opened the door. 
A young man with whom the Senator was barely acquainted 
entered. The visitor received a rather cold greeting, but, 
regardless of this fact, he began to unfold what the private 
secretary designates a " hard-luck " story. He scarcely had 
begun the narrative when the Senator thrust his right hand 
into his pocket and drew out a roll of money. Without stop- 
ping to look what he was doing, he peeled off the outside 
bill, and, thrusting it into the man's hand, said: "There; 
go!" 

The gentleman who narrates the incident caught a 
glimpse of the money as it passed from one hand to the 
other, and ascertained that it was a twenty-dollar bill, but 
he says he is confident that Mr. Wolcott never knew how 



392 EDWAKD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Without any comment upon the incident, with no ex- 
pression of regret nor even of impatience, Mr. Wolcott re- 
sumed his walk up and down the floor and proceeded with 
the dictation of his speech as if he had not been interrupted. 

HABITS OF STUDY AND WORK 

Coming down to particulars in our characterization, we 
find that Mr. Wolcott was not inclined to close application 
either as man or boy — as lawyer, legislator, or student. The 
mere drudgery of learning did not appeal to him. And yet 
he could " bone " if necessity required that he should. W r e 
find him working hard over his Greek and Latin at Hudson. 
But he was preparing for Yale. He was ambitious for a 
collegiate education, and he knew that admission to that in- 
stitution could be obtained only through thorough prepara- 
tion. But, once in the college, his lethargy asserted itself. 
He did his best work under the pressure of emergency, but, 
unlike most men of this disposition, he was easily aroused; 
he was one of the readiest of men. He must, however, have 
some especial incentive to cause him to do work not nat- 
urally pleasing to him. He once wrote to his mother, " It 
is hard for me to understand how a man can work unless 
he is spurred by necessity." 

His willingness to toil for a purpose is shown in his 
law studies, as it was at Hudson. He applied himself satis- 
factorily when in the office of the Russell Brothers in Bos- 
ton, and he completed the law course at Harvard in less 
time than do most students there. But then — beyond lay — 
not Italy, but the diploma, and the world — the world which 
he was to conquer. 

As it had been in his studies, so it was in his law 
practice and in his service in the Senate — he would only 
work when expediency required. During his term as Dis- 
trict Attorney, notwithstanding his own purse was wofully 
depleted, he required his assistant, Mr. Orahood, to pre- 
pare most of the papers and gave him the fees, which con- 
stituted the major portion of the emoluments of the office. 
The same policy was followed after his practice had be- 
come more extensive; assistants were employed to gather 



CHARACTERISTICS 393 

the details and even to present them in court, if the case 
was an ordinary one. Unless the occasion was worth while 
and the achievement of sufficient consequence to afford 
an incentive to the exercise of his own master hand, 
he would remain out of the case entirely. It is not in- 
tended to convey the impression that he enjoyed an oppor- 
tunity for mere " show." Nothing was more foreign to his 
nature. He liked to do big things, and he did not like to 
do little things. He loved to exercise his talents, but not 
to exercise them unnecessarily. 

The same policy prevailed in his work in the Senate. 
Ordinarily he depended upon others to do the routine. But 
there were exceptions. If his duties demanded, no line of 
labor was too arduous for him; but he did not give close 
general attention to questions with which he did not expect 
to deal. 

We have heard much of his advocacy of the silver cause. 
His speeches, in the Senate and out, on that subject were 
among the most effective made while the question was be- 
fore the country, but one would search in vain for an elab- 
orate array of figures in support of his assertions. He 
left statistics to his co-laborers. His' was the part of the 
cavalry charger; others must prepare against assaults or 
cover retreats. He would not go into the subject in a hum- 
drum or plodding way. 

But when he did work, Wolcott applied himself with 
his whole heart, A man of vast, though erratic, energy, he 
did not cease in a task until he had accomplished it. But 
so quick was his perception, that a subject once taken up 
was soon mastered. He grasped every situation almost in- 
tuitively. Once an investigation was undertaken, he con- 
tinued the inquiry with avidity. He read everything he could 
get and utilized all other means of gathering information 
on the subject. When so inclined, he could attend to the 
details as effectually as any one. While he was at George- 
town, he acquired such a name for drawing up contracts 
and other legal papers that people came from a distance 
to have him do this service for them, and would defer their 
business for days, if need be, until he would be at his office 
to wait on them. 



394 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

LIFE AT WASHINGTON 

Mr. Wolcott's life as a Senator served to develop some 
of his most pronounced characteristics, and of them a volume 
might be written. In many ways he was the most extraor- 
dinary man in the Senate. His personality asserted itself 
not alone in his speeches, but in his manner of life and 
his intercourse with others. During the greater part of 
his two Senatorial terms he was the possessor of a large 
income. His practice was lucrative, his mining interests 
remunerative, and his other investments profitable. He 
therefore could afford to live well, and he did so. 

Residing for most of his term in a rented house at 1221 
Connecticut Avenue, he bought the adjoining lot, and built 
on the rear portion of it a library. Above the basement was 
one big apartment, connected with his dwelling by a cor- 
ridor. A large fireplace, book-shelves, and pictures used 
up the wall space, while rugs and reading-tables and easy- 
chairs scattered about the room made it an ideal place for 
loafing or working or entertaining his friends. Here he 
liked to assemble his intimates for the interchange of ideas, 
and here conversation covered all possible topics. As will 
appear, Mr. Wolcott was extremely practical and " current " 
in his public speaking, but in the communion of his own 
fireside his discussion took a wide range. He liked to talk 
of art and literature and of the theatre and of sports; to 
discuss philosophical and speculative themes; to dilate upon 
the leading events in history and the participants in them. 
He was especially apt in his characterization of current 
happenings. No man in public life had a clearer view or a 
better understanding of the occurrences of the day, and none 
could discuss them more intelligently. He had politics, 
local and general, at his tongue's end, and in a few sen- 
tences he could summarize the proceedings of Congress for 
a week. 

He went much into society and he frequented the theatre. 
He entertained a great deal, and his hospitality was pro- 
verbial. The style of living was in consonance with his 
wealth and his liberal disposition. Indeed, wherever he 
lived, whether in Washington, Denver, New York, or abroad, 



CHARACTERISTICS 395 

whether at home or at club or hotel, he lived well; some 
would say extravagantly. He was a money-maker and 
a money spender. He did not affect " the simple life." 
It is not meant to convey the idea that there was a loud 
or a pretentious display. Mr. Wolcott was not given to 
that course. He had a passion for the elegant, but he 
was not capable of vulgarity. He never cared for wealth 
for the mere display of wealth. He never sought money 
for the impression it enabled him to make on others. 
In addition to his many charities, he used his means 
for the gratification of his own excellent tastes, and no 
man knew better how to maintain a state of quiet mag- 
nificence. His manner ever suggested the newly rich. 
On the contrary, he created the impression of one who had 
been born to wealth and position. Indeed, no man had a 
better natural sense of the proper use of large means. 

He often said that it cost him f 150,000 a year to remain 
in the Senate. Probably, however, he would have spent al- 
most as much in any other station of life. 

As in his home, so with his person, Mr. Wolcott was an 
example of taste and elegance. Every suit of clothes must 
be pressed afresh before he wore it a second time. The 
florist had a yearly contract to have a fresh bouquet on his 
desk every morning. With little exact knowledge of botany 
and with little personal experience of gardening, he had a 
great fondness for flowers. Waiting once in Boston while 
a legal snarl straightened itself out, he walked around to 
the Granary Burying Ground half a dozen times a day to 
look at the hollyhocks growing there. 

It has been said of him that he was the best-dressed man 
in public life. There was in his time no man in either House 
of Congress who wore as many varieties of clothes and such 
fashionable and becoming ones as he. He was a veritable 
Beau Brummel, and his manner could be as pleasing as 
his dress was elegant. He kept standing orders with Fifth 
Avenue tailors and with the shirt- and hat-makers of Paris, 
who would send him whatever they thought he ought to 
have. Thus his fine figure always was attired in the height 
of style. 

He insisted on the best of everything. Regarding his 



396 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

food be was fastidious to a degree. The choicest cuts must 
be his. The table liueu must be immaculate, aud the waiters 
must be ou the alert. Indeed, his demands upon the Sen- 
ate cafe were such that the management was compelled to 
station a scout at the door who would signal his approach. 
Instantly a waiter was at his side, his service was immediate, 
and his viands the best that human agency could place be- 
fore him. A New York friend said that no one knew so 
well how to order a dinner as did Wolcott, Toward waiters 
he was at once merciless and generous. Once after he had 
entertained a friend at a cafe he said to the man who had 
served them : " Here 's fifty cents for you ; I 'd give you 
more if you were a good waiter; — but you are not." 

Mr. Wolcott loved to be a pioneer. He was original and 
never would " trail in " on anything. Next to Senator 
Chandler, he was the first public man to ride a bicycle in 
Washington, and, when the fad was at its height, he was 
a conspicuous figure on the streets of the city and of the 
suburbs of the Capital. He rode the finest wheel that could 
be found in the foreign or domestic market, and as he was 
among the first to use, so was he the first to abandon, the 
wheel. The Colorado Senator was also one of the first ever 
seen riding in an automobile on the streets of Washington. 
He was the observed of all observers as he dashed around 
in his little electric runabout, and he was very fond of ask- 
ing some colleague to ride home with him after adjourn- 
ment. He would shoot down Capitol Hill, and, probably 
because of clumsiness, would narrowly miss many a for- 
midable obstruction. Without conceding his own awkward- 
ness, he would laugh like a boy at the fears of his companion. 
Few colleagues were known to ride twice in Mr. Wolcott's 
electric if they could avoid so doing. 

For street-cars he had an abhorrence. He would ride in 
almost any kind of an individual vehicle rather than sit 
in a traction car. He loved horses with long pedigrees, and 
his private equipages were equal to the best. His business 
sense showed itself, however, in his employment of an ex- 
pert in his purchase of horseflesh. 

He loathed the sight of worn and ragged money or even 
of bills that had been crumpled. Nothing would suit him 



CHARACTERISTICS 397 

but crisp money fresh out of the Treasury, and woe be to 
him who dared fold the bills. He did not like to have money 
counted out to him. 

On my first trip to the bank for him I returned with $10,000 
[said one of his secretaries]. I started to count the bills, but 
he shoved the bunch into his pocket. The next time I counted 
the bills, amounting to $3000, outside the door with Old Man 
Friday [a nickname for the Senator's messenger], who saw that 
the count was O. K. Then I laid the package on the desk and 
began counting, when Mr. Wolcott reached for it. 

I said, " There may not be $3000 there ! " 

" Well," he replied, " suppose there is n't? " 

I responded, " You might pay out two hundred and think 
you had paid out only one hundred or so, and then you would 
not have the right amount ! " 

Wolcott looked at me, and said, " You are afraid of money, 
are n't you? " 

I said, " I 'm afraid of other people's money, and think it 
should be counted; it only takes a minute. I might have lost 
some ! " 

" Suppose you did," he replied ; " that is all there is to it, 
is n't it? Counting it would not bring it back." 

But just the same [added the confidential man], I always 
counted the bills outside the door with some one, and then 
handed them directly to Wolcott. 

Mr. O. O. Stealey, in his Twenty Years hi the Press 
Gallery, says of him : 

" Senator Wolcott was an exceedingly popular man with 
all classes. He had a charming personality, was very hand- 
some, and always dressed in the best style. He was a lion 
in Washington society, and was the observed of all observers 
at the notable receptions." 

Yet, with all his elegance, Senator Wolcott loved to recur 
to the simple life of the early days, and no associations ever 
were so dear to him as those of that period. He had seen 
much of the world and he knew that it did not give peace 
of mind. He never cared for mere display. He liked the 
best because it was the best; he did not look down upon 
others who did not possess all in the way of comfort or 
luxury that he enjoyed. 



398 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

USE OF PRIVATE SECRETARY 

Mr. Wolcott was more than thirty years of age before 
he enjoyed the luxury of an amanuensis. He was not in 
position to employ one until after he removed from George- 
town to Denver, and while he dictated with freedom, even 
after the change he generally conducted his private corre- 
spondence in his own penmanship. Of all the many family 
letters from him, covering a period of more than forty 
years, which have come into the hands of the author, only 
one was written by another person, and help was employed 
in that instance only because of accident. Even when busily 
engaged with his Senatorial duties or in the work of the 
Bimetallic Commission, he used his own hand in family 
correspondence, and he wrote many long letters even during 
those intensely occupied periods of his life. Most of his 
personal letters to friends also were written by himself. If 
compelled by any circumstance to call in help, he apologized 
for doing so. 

An account of his first employment of a clerk has been 
left by Mr. Wolcott. It took place soon after the establish- 
ment of his office in Denver, and his father was duly notified, 
as it was considered an important transaction. Afterward 
as business increased, the clerical force of his law-office grew 
rapidly, lawyers as well as stenographers, typewriters, and 
other assistants being given places. 

While in the Senate, he was supplied by the Government 
with a private secretary and with such other clerical assist- 
ance as was needed in his labors for the public, and the 
Washington force was entirely distinct from the Denver staff. 
With his Senatorial secretaries Mr. Wolcott had trouble. 
His duties were many, and he was inclined to lean heavily 
upon his assistant for details. The work of the secretary 
often was greater than any one man should have been ex- 
pected to perform. This was the fault of the Government, 
but the consequences were suffered by the Senator and his 
assistant. While he occupied the office he made many 
changes, and he created the impression of being over exact- 
ing and irritable. Possibly this was true at times, but Mr. 
Wolcott's whims were not the only cause of the secretaries' 



CHARACTERISTICS 399 

troubles. He thought with the rapidity of a lightning flash, 
and it must be an expert man who could anticipate his 
wants or even keep pace with them. Often the appearance 
of unreasonableness was due to the wide difference in view- 
point. Much of his brusqueness was traceable to his ab- 
sorption by the subject in hand. 

When these conditions led to a severance of relations 
the separation generally resulted in no disturbance of per- 
sonal regard on either side. Knowing his own exacting 
disposition, Mr. Wolcott did not condemn as useless the man 
who could not maintain his pace or appreciate his abrupt- 
ness. Most of the Senatorial secretaries were exceptionally 
competent men, and it is only just to say that as a rule 
the change of relationship was due to no fault except that 
of not being able to meet all the exacting requirements of 
their employer. It also should be stated that none of them 
left Mr. Wolcott's employ without profound respect for his 
ability. Many of the most appreciative expressions con- 
cerning him have come to the writer from men who formerly 
served him as private secretary. 

The Senatorial secretary was Mr. Wolcott's confidential 
man in all things. He trusted him implicitly, and he ex- 
pected much of him in many directions. Not only was he 
required to give attention to political and official affairs, 
but to domestic and social details as well. To him the Sen- 
ator entrusted much of his private business. The secretary 
signed many of his employer's checks, and to one of them 
he gave carte blanche in the matter of the purchase and 
sale of stocks. 

In Washington the private secretary attended to the 
great bulk of the Senator's routine work for his constituents, 
while the latter contented himself with general information 
as to what was done without acquainting himself with the 
minute proceedings. He was, however, always sufficiently 
informed regarding any given matter to deal with it intel- 
ligently, and he had a way of asking questions at a critical 
time which would have been very embarrassing to a sub- 
ordinate who was neglecting his work. 

The secretary called at the Senator's house in Washington 
each morning, including Sundays. There he received and 



400 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

went over the mail, and had the programme laid out for 
the day. The mail was very large. The Senator had the 
distribution of patronage, and it involved an immense 
amount of correspondence. He was Chairman of the im- 
portant Committee on Post-offices and Post-roads, and took 
an active interest in every detail concerning its work, in 
Which the secretary necessarily was his right-hand man. 
He aimed to meet every business caller, especially constitu- 
ents, and to give consideration to each request. When 
away from Washington, he was advised by wire daily of 
the proceedings in the Senate and of any other important 
political or official matter arising. In brief, he was espe- 
cially scrupulous in his duties, and insisted that all features 
of any given matter should have all the care that the cir- 
cumstances demanded. He pursued that course with the 
work reserved for himself, and he expected his assistants to 
be just as punctilious as he was. He did not permit any 
one, constituent or other, to impose upon him or monopolize 
his time simply because he was a public official. 

He would not allow people to bore him, and he would 
not abandon important duties to meet mere tuft-hunters, 
or to greet even constituents, who wanted to see him without 
reference to business. By this course he occasionally gave 
offence, but as a rule the indignation did not continue long 
at a time; it would disappear with the Senator's next tri- 
umph in the Senate or with his next act of generosity, the 
object of which was as liable as not to be the offended 
one. On one occasion, when he had been especially beset 
by idle visitors, he gave one of his clerks a formula to fol- 
low : " If," he said, " a visitor merely calls to shake hands, 
you shake with him, and then sometime I will shake with 
you ; that ought to satisfy any one on such an errand ! " 

Of all the men employed as clerks either in Denver or 
Washington, C. A. Chisholm, of the Denver office, was the 
only one who held a position with Mr. Wolcott for a long 
term of years. Beginning in 1884, soon after the young 
lawyer had risen to the dignity of employing assistance, 
Mr. Chisholm soon rose to be the head of the clerical force 
of the office, and he continued to occupy a responsible 
relationship toward Mr. Wolcott so long as the latter lived. 



CHARACTERISTICS 401 

He remained in Denver during Senator Wolcott's stay in 
Washington, giving his attention largely to affairs outside 
the National Capital except in an emergency. 

Mr. Wolcott's course in engaging Mr. Chisholm was 
characteristic of him. A Scotchman by birth, Chisholm had 
just arrived in Denver, when, unintroduced and unan- 
nounced, he called at Wolcott's office to seek employment. 
He at first was told that there was nothing for him to do, 
and was about to retire when Mr. Wolcott called him back. 

" Do you write a good hand? " asked the lawyer. It was 
in the days when typewriters were scarce, and the hand- 
writing of clerks was more important than latterly. 

Picking up a piece of paper, Mr. Chisholm wrote, repeat- 
ing the question, " Do you write a good hand? " and passed 
the paper over to the attorney. 

Whether Wolcott was pleased with the handwriting or 
impressed with the young man's originality, does not appear. 
He merely said : " Come back to-morrow, and go to work." 

Having obtained the place, Mr. Chisholm had the dis- 
cretion not to become offended by the manner of his em- 
ployer. Methodical, industrious, and intelligent, he soon 
made himself invaluable. Mr. Wolcott became greatly at- 
tached to him, and when he died the young Scotch clerk, 
who had grown almost gray in the service of Mr. Wolcott 
and his firm, was made the only beneficiary of his will out- 
side the family. He trusted Chisholm implicitly, and he 
once said, " Chisholm has handled millions for me, and I 
never have insulted him by asking him for a bond." 

There can be no better place than here to acknowledge 
the present writer's indebtedness to Mr. Chisholm. But for 
his methodical foresight in the preservation of material, his 
affectionate regard for Mr. Wolcott's memory, and his in- 
telligent attention to detail, the labor of compiling this 
memoir would have been doubled. The assistance of others 
of the former Senator's clerks also has been freely given 
and is hereby gratefully acknowledged. 

WRITING, READING, DICTATION 



402 EDWAKD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

erally dictated, but as we have seen, most of Mr. Wolcott's 
private correspondence was penned by himself. He wrote 
with great rapidity, seldom finding it necessary to erase a 
word or change an expression. 

Mr. Wolcott was ambidextrous, and a stranger could not 
easily determine whether any given piece of his manuscript 
was from the right hand or the left. He used the two hands 
indiscriminately in signing checks, and the banks accepted 
those signed by one hand as readily as those signed by the 
other. When a boy at school, he would write on the black- 
board with both hands simultaneously to the astonishment, 
not to say, the envy, of his fellow-pupils. After he grew to 
manhood he wrote habitually with the left hand, but often 
rested it by using the right. He thus was enabled to turn 
off a large quantity of work at a sitting. When first elected 
to the Senate he felt that he must make acknowledgment of 
all letters of congratulation in his own handwriting, and he 
wrote ninety notes of this sort in a single afternoon. 

To those who were intimately connected with him while 
he was in the Senate the use of the " off " hand was omi- 
nous. When " the skies were clear " and " the weather 
calm " he always wrote with his left hand ; but when there 
was a storm on, when conditions were not agreeable, he 
resorted to the use of the right hand, as they tell the story. 

A private secretary puts it thus : 

When Wolcott wrote with his right hand, something was 
wrong, and it was a good time to have important business else- 
where for a few hours at least. Whenever his confidential man 
Friday, or his secretary, walked into the room and saw Wolcott 
writing at a desk and using his right hand, a quick exit followed. 
As one said, " What 's the use of hanging around near a piece 
of dynamite?" I imagine [added the secretary] that there 
are some of Senator Wolcott's right-hand notes still in ex- 
istence among the politicians of Colorado, but I doubt whether 
the receivers of them would be willing to put them at your 
disposal. 

He wrote " a good hand " — legible, clear, even, the let- 
ters being small, square, and distinct. His writing was 
entirely different from what would have been expected of 



CHARACTERISTICS 403 

one of such characteristics, and it was a serious puzzle to 
those who professed to find in chirography an index to char- 
acter. The Senator was persuaded once to send a sample 
page to such an " expert." The result was ridiculous. The 
character reader replied by letter that the Senator was 
" even-tempered, deliberate, cool, slow to anger ; indeed, 
phlegmatic " ! 

Mr. Wolcott read with astonishing rapidity, and con- 
trary to the general experience of rapid readers, he took in 
the meaning of the text as he proceeded. He always knew 
" what it was about." 

No man [said one of his private secretaries] could read a 
book or a newspaper or a piece of manuscript as could Wolcott. 
He could read more rapidly and more comprehensively than 
any one I ever saw. The secret was that he read a page at 
a time. Instead of reading only a word or two, as most peo- 
ple do, or a line or two, as others do, he, like Macaulay, read 
the page as a picture. I proved this one day. I had written a 
very important letter to one of his political enemies and I 
wanted Wolcott to say it was O. K. so that there might be 
no flareback thereafter. 

I gave him the letter and he handed it back again. I 
said : " I wanted you to read it." He replied, " I have read it." 
"Why, you did not have time enough to read the date line." 
"I tell you I read the letter." "Well, just tell me what the 
letter says." He did ; he had read it all right. 

Another instance of Mr. Wolcott's capacity in this re- 
spect is related by the same gentleman. He says that on 
one occasion he accompanied the Senator to Denver. They 
went straightway from the railroad station to the Senator's 
law-offices. After Mr. Wolcott had greeted his partners and 
some callers, he sent for a young attorney who was em- 
ployed in the office, and asked him if he had prepared a 
brief in a certain case which the office had in hand, and 
which, before leaving for Washington some months before, 
he had instructed him to get up. The young man went out, 
and in a few minutes returned bearing a voluminous type- 
written document, which he handed to Mr. Wolcott with 
no little show of pride. He had worked on the brief for 



404 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

months and apparently was quite satisfied with his ac- 
complishment. 

Standing in the middle of the room, Mr. Wolcott took 
the document, laid it on a high table near him, turned over 
one page after another almost as rapidly as he could do 
so, glancing at each as it went, and within less than five 
minutes' time turned upon the young man, saying, " You 
have missed the one point which I told you must be covered ; 
it will be necessary to do the work over, and quite as neces- 
sary that it should be done by some one else." 

" He had read that brief as carefully as another man 
would have read it in two hours," said the secretary, " and 
he knew more of its contents than the ordinary man would 
have known if he had read it several times." 

" Indeed," added the secretary, " I was so impressed with 
his wonderful capacity in this respect that I once spoke to 
him about it, asking him if he had been born that way. 
He laughed the question off, and did not seem to think the 
gift a peculiarly remarkable one." 

It is related that on one occasion Wolcott went into the 
office of a prominent official of the Denver and Rio Grande 
Railroad Company and found that gentleman in apparent 
embarrassment. " You are just the man I want to see," said 
the railroad man ; " here is a case in which we must have 
your judgment, and we want it as soon as we can get it. 
Can't you take the papers to your hotel and give us your 
opinion some time to-morrow? " 

" Let me have them," said Wolcott. Retiring to a corner 
he immediately began a rapid perusal of the record. He re- 
turned in less than an hour with a brief written statement of 
his views, advising a course of action, which being followed, 
led to a successful solution of the problem. 

When, after years of productive individual prosperity, 
the Last Chance and Commodore mines at Creede came into 
conflict and a great law-suit became imminent, Mr. Wol- 
cott was consulted. He and his friends were heavily inter- 
ested in the Last Chance, and his legal services were called 
into exercise in behalf of the mine. He had not participated 
in the preparation of the case, but when the papers were in 
readiness he looked them over with care, though rapidly. 



CHARACTERISTICS 405 

The survey completed, he pronounced a verdict without a 
moment of hesitation. 

" Compromise it," he said, and a mutual agreement was 
reached outside the courts. 

Possibly a long law-suit might have brought success, but 
Mr. Wolcott's friends thought enough of his judgment to 
accept it. 

QUICKNESS OF SPEECH 

It is quite impossible to repeat all the " good things " 
spoken by Mr. Wolcott during the twelve years he occupied 
a seat in the Senate and during his twenty-five years of 
political speaking in Colorado. He had a nimble wit, and 
he liked to use it. 

Whether on his feet making a speech or sitting with 
friends at the Club or by his own fireside, Mr. Wolcott never 
hesitated for apt expression. He delighted in repartee, and 
his utterances were not commonplace. Often they were cut- 
ting and severe, but a study of the man's character will 
convince one that in many instances they were so only in ap- 
pearance and not because of a cruel disposition. He liked 
to tantalize, and his best friends often were the subjects of 
his sharpest thrusts. He enjoyed the intellectual exercise 
found in an exchange of witticisms, and was as willing to 
" take " as he was to " give." If, however, the occasion 
called for severity he was capable of manifesting that trait, 
and when so disposed he could be most sarcastic and ex- 
asperating — all the more so because of his ability to express 
his thoughts in terse and telling sentences. Whether talk- 
ing to or about people, he characterized them in the aptest 
language, and would say in a few words what others 
would amplify into columns. He never entered a company 
that he did not add to its brilliancy, and his friends agree 
that quick and apt wit was one of the strongest character- 
istics of his conversation. They also say that while others 
were generally the subject of his reflections, he did not spare 
himself, if greater point could be given a remark by making 
himself the butt of it. " I have often wished," says his 
friend Voorhies, " that a ' shorthand ' could have been pres- 



406 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

ent to take his sayings as repeated by his coterie since 
his death. All of them recall much in that way, but none 
can remember all. To my mind only another Boswell could 
do justice to his memory in this respect." 

In the Senate Mr. Wolcott's speeches were given the clos- 
est attention, and the galleries were crowded whenever it 
became known that he was to take the floor. It was notori- 
ous that he was opposed to every form of graft as he was 
to every sort of sham, and he was in the habit of saying so 
to the edification of the public. As Chairman of the Committee 
on Post-offices and Post-roads, he was one of the first to 
give warning of the Post-office Department scandals, which 
afterward attracted the attention and the interest of the 
country. Almost every speech, whether political or other- 
wise, contained some witticism that would be worthy of note. 

Probably the most famous of Mr. Wolcott's bon-mots 
in the Senate was that delivered at the expense of a Western 
colleague whose State had just been admitted and who was 
comparatively new to the Senate. It had been supposed by 
the Western Senators that, when this gentleman should take 
his seat, he would assist them in their fight for free-silver 
coinage. But he did not, and Wolcott regarded his course 
unfavorably. The retort came toward the end of a day of 
sharp controversy over the money question. Senator Wol- 
cott made a sarcastic attack upon the other Senator for 
being a gold man when, as he contended, the new Senator's 
section of the country was for free silver, and in his reply 
his antagonist was foolish enough to resort to the cheap 
method of ridiculing Mr. Wolcott's habit of wearing good 
clothes. Wolcott's reply was brief but crushing. Declar- 
ing that the gentleman came from that part of the country 
where it seemed to be an offence for a man to wear a clean 
shirt, he began as if about to make a long and detailed 
attack upon him. Apparently thinking better of it, he threw 
up his hands, and, as if the subject were worth nothing 
more, exclaimed: 

" But, Mr. President, in dealing with this subject I am 
reminded of the old Spanish proverb : 'It's a waste of 
lather to shave an ass.' " 

The Senate was thrilled by the boldness and brevity of 



CHARACTERISTICS 407 

the response, and the subject of it did not rally from its 
effect for many years. 

As characteristic an expression as ever was uttered by 
Senator Wolcott was voiced by him on January 28, 1896, 
in response to an address on the Monroe Doctrine by Sen- 
ator John M. Thurston, of Nebraska. The speech was made 
soon after Mr. Wolcott's remarks on the same subject and, 
in a measure, was in reply to the Colorado Senator. Mr. 
Wolcott had taken advanced ground of friendship toward 
Great Britain, and the Nebraska Senator was just as pro- 
nounced in his assertion of ultra-Americanism. He de- 
clared that the English press already had seized upon the 
utterances of the Colorado Senator as an indication that the 
people of this country were ready to abandon their posi- 
tion of responsibility toward the South American Republics. 
Asserting that both the British newspapers and the Colorado 
Senator were mistaken in their view of conditions, he an- 
nounced in florid language his determination to support a 
resolution that had been brought in, declaring adherence by 
the United States to the Monroe Doctrine: 

I shall [he exclaimed, with much fervor] vote for the reso- 
lution in this time of profound tranquillity, convinced that peace 
with honor can be preserved. I would vote for it if we were 
already standing in the awful shadow of declared war. I would 
vote for it were all the navies of Europe thundering at our 
harbors. I would vote for it were the shells of British battle- 
ships bursting above the dome of the United States Capitol. I 
would vote for it and maintain it at all hazards and at any 
cost, with the last dollar, with the last man; yea, though it 
might presage the coming of a mighty conflict whose conclusion 
would leave me without a son as the last great conflict left 
me without a sire! 

Mr. Wolcott had remained near his Nebraska associate 
during the delivery of his speech, but, instead of making any 
general or generally audible response, he simply turned to 
the Senator sitting next to him and asked, " Did you ob- 
serve that Thurston skipped a generation in his patriotism? " 

Discussing the silver question in a speech made in the 
Senate on October 9, 1893, Mr. Wolcott said : 



408 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

" Senators have differed widely as to the causes of the 
existing monetary troubles, and as to the remedy that will 
cure them, but on one point there is a perfect accord. We 
are all friends of silver; the only distinction seems to be 
that some of us are bimetallists and the rest of the chamber 
are ' by-and-by ' metallists." 

That he was quite as apt in his political and after-dinner 
speeches as in his addresses in the Senate, reference to those 
speeches will show. Take, for instance, a thrust made at 
an opponent at a political meeting at Pueblo. This occurred 
in the days of Populism, and Mr. Wolcott had been preceded 
there some days before by one of the most popular and most 
effective of the orators of the Populist party — a man of small 
stature, but an excellent speaker. During the course of a 
long speech in discussion of the issues of the day, he at- 
tacked Mr. Wolcott violently as the arch enemy of Populism, 
as in reality he was. " Now, my friends," he exclaimed, 
after paying his respects to several smaller lights in the two 
old parties, " now, we come to Mr. Wolcott. Some people 
appear to be afraid of him. I am not, and to show you 
that I am not, I am going to get into his hair." 

Much more the gentleman said, but further quotation is 
unnecessary for present purposes. 

I have heard [said Mr. Wolcott, in meeting the attack of 
his opponent] that Mr. Blank has told you that he means to 
" get into my hair." I would not have you think for a moment 
that I underrate the seriousness of the threat. I fully ap- 
preciate it, and to reassure you on that point I will impart to 
you the information that immediately upon learning of his in- 
tentions, I proceeded to arm myself with a fine-tooth comb. 

He made no further reply to Mr. Blank. 

Hon. Charles Page Bryan supplies an incident illustra- 
tive of Mr. Wolcott's effective use of sarcasm in his speeches. 
The speech in question was made in 1879, when Wolcott was 
just beginning his career, and had for its purpose the pre- 
vention of the defacement of the magnificent scenery of the 
Rocky Mountains by advertisements. Mr. Bryan tells the 
story thus : 



CHARACTERISTICS 409 

Georgetown was long the largest silver-producing camp in 
America. It is reached by the Colorado Southern, then the 
Colorado Central Railway, which winds through the stupendous 
canon of Clear Creek in Colorado. This was the first road that 
gave the tourist the opportunity to view the marvels of a Rocky 
Mountain gorge from a comfortable seat on a train. In the 
earlier days that sublime scenery was marred by huge patent- 
medicine advertisements daubed on the rocks, and by other nat- 
ural sign-boards. Mr. Wolcott fathered a bill in the State 
Senate to prohibit, under heavy penalties, this abomination. He 
put forth his best efforts in a speech advocating the measure. 
In the peroration he delighted his audience with flights loftier 
than the snow-capped peaks, which he described in language 
as brilliant as the Alpine glow — a glow, by the way, rarely 
seen in the Rocky Mountains. 

The torrent of Clear Creek rushing in sparkling beauty 
through the sombre chasm which it had forged in the long 
aeons ; the " everlasting hills," with their fringe of pines silvered 
in the morning sun against an azure sky ; the Golconda treasure- 
vaults beneath, honeycombed with veins of precious metals, and 
the slopes gilded like an Oriental dream ; the hunter in buckskin 
scouring the forest primeval for the elk-monarch; the disciple 
of dear Sir Isaac alone amid the solemn grandeur of a storm 
in the Rocky Mountains; all these familiar visions the orator 
pictured with a splendor of treatment worthy of Dore, who has 
in various works illustrated Colorado scenery with a naturalness 
marvellous in its chance resemblance. 

Mr. Wolcott concluded, in substance, thus : " Mr. President, 
the climax is worthy of the approach. In charming contrast to 
the awful sublimity of the canon is a lovely valley in which 
nestles the pretty town of Georgetown, yclept the ' Silver Queen,' 
which is environed by natural battlements of granite towering 
heaven-high. Thereon, amid all-surrounding grandeur, you read, 
emblazoned in letters that can be deciphered miles away : ' Have 
you got worms ? ' " 

Writing of Mr. Wolcott soon after his first election to 
the Senate, Mr. Bryan related an incident which will serve 
to show how readily Wolcott could turn even an awkward 
mishap to himself to the discomfiture of his opponents. 

His speeches [says Mr. Bryan] are always apt and to the 
point. Whether in mass-meeting, at banquets, before juries, in 



410 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

conventions or legislatures, he is ready and forcible, with fresh- 
ness of matter and individuality of manner calculated to arouse 
enthusiasm. In 1880, the struggle in Colorado between the 
Grant men and the anti-third-termers was intense. The former 
prevailed, and in the convention outnumbered their opponents 
three to one. Wolcott was conspicuous in the minority, which 
made a fine fight for recognition. When Blaine's name was 
first spoken a great shout went up from his followers, and 
through his vehemence Wolcott's chair gave way under his 
stalwart frame. Of course, the Grant enthusiasts laughed; but 
Wolcott, unabashed, stamped on the remains of his seat, and, 
kicking them aside, exclaimed: 'So, gentlemen, will we crush 
your machine ! ' " 

A fellow-speaker at a public meeting during the adminis- 
tration of President Cleveland had indulged in criticism of 
the acts of some of the Democratic office-holders. Referring 
to the criticism, Wolcott asked, " What can you expect but 
a muddy stream when you have a muddy spring? " 

He was the subject of much bitter attack by the news- 
papers in connection with the campaign of 1896. Alluding 
to this circumstance in his speech in the Denver Auditorium 
of that year, Mr. Wolcott said he hesitated to attempt a 
reply. " It is," he said, " like throwing mud at a man who 
drives a garbage-cart every day and has it full all the time." 

Speaking in the same speech of Hon. W. J. Bryan, of 
Nebraska, who that year was the candidate of the Democracy 
for President, Mr. Wolcott contrasted him with Buffalo 
Bill (W. F. Cody), also a Nebraskan, and then proprietor 
of the Wild West Circus. " Nebraska has produced two 
great men, and both of them are named Bill," he said. 
" There is, however, this marked difference between them : 
' Buffalo Bill ' has ' a show,' and Bill Bryan has n't any 
' show.' " 

In his introduction to the " Anecdotes " volume of 
Modern Eloquence, Champ Clark, the Democratic Congress- 
man from Missouri, who in 1909 succeeded John Sharp 
Williams as the minority leader of the national House of 
Representatives, supplies the following as illustrative of Mr. 
Wolcott's capacity for extricating himself from an awkward 
dilemma by the use of his wits: 



CHARACTERISTICS 411 

During his twelve years of Senatorial service the Coloradoan 
has won for himself the honor of being about the most eloquent 
Republican in the Senate. In addition to his oratorical talent, 
he is wonderfully clever at campaign repartee. This gift was 
well demonstrated before he became nationally known, when he 
was sent to a Southern State to advocate Republicanism. At 
a certain place he was politely informed that the " rally " would 
begin and end about the same time, and that not since 1883 had 
any Republican been permitted to finish a speech there. Wol- 
cott was determined, however, and upon learning that the citi- 
zens, as a rule, were kind enough to permit the speakers to get 
out of town and fill their next appointment, he concluded to 
make his speech as billed. The chairman was instructed to dis- 
pense with the music and introduce him to the audience in as 
few words as possible. The advice was followed a little too 
literally. He simply pointed at the audience and then at the 
speaker, and disappeared behind the scenes. 

Wolcott began his speech with one of his best stories. The 
audience was separated, the colored folk all being in the gallery, 
and only white people below. In about five minutes Wolcott's 
discretion was overcome by his Republicanism, and he made a 
pointed thrust at the opponent party, whereupon a body of young 
men in the centre of the theatre shouted in concert, " Rats ! " 
Wolcott paused for a moment, and then, waving his hand at 
the gallery, said, " Waiter, come down and take the Chinamen's 
orders ! " The effect was electrical and effectual. In laughingly 
referring to the incident afterward, the Senator said : " You 
should have seen that dusky hillside of faces in the gallery 
break into ledges of pearl ! " 

As a specimen of his capacity for presenting an ugly fact 
in a delicate way and at the same time making a joke of it, 
the following from his first New England Society dinner 
speech is worth presenting. He was speaking of the assimi- 
lation by Colorado of its Mexican population and said : 

Where we have a chance to work without precedent [he said], 
we can point with pride of a certain sort to methods at least 
peaceful. When Mexico was conquered, we found ourselves with 
many thousand Mexicans on hand. I don't know how they man- 
aged it elsewhere, but in Colorado we not only took them by 
the hand and taught them our ways, but both political parties 
inaugurated a beautiful and generous custom, since more honored 



412 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

in the breach than in the observance, which gave these van- 
quished people an insight into and an interest in the workings 
of republican institutions which was marvellous: a custom of 
presenting to each head of a household, being a voter, on elec- 
tion day, from one to five dollars in our native silver. 

Out of Mr. Wolcott's brief experience as a stereopticon 
lecturer while engaged in his law studies at Boston, have 
come many anecdotes. His cousin, A. P. Carroll, was pres- 
ent at one of his Providence lectures, and Ed appears to 
have added somewhat to his discourse on this occasion for 
the benefit of his kinsman. Relating the incident, Mr. 
Carroll says: 

I accompanied him to the large hall which was packed to 
its capacity and was seated on the platform close by his side, 
where he could interlude the drollest side remarks and where 
I was not seen by the audience. He held the audience 
spellbound from start to finish, almost threw me into con- 
vulsions of merriment, and drove the managers frantic over the 
wild statements made, but which were as captivating to his 
hearers as they were wide of accuracy. It was such a pro- 
nounced success that he received double the pay originally 
promised and the local papers gave most flattering notices of 
his lecture. 

The views pictured the Arctic regions, and Ed described 
them in vivid language, manifesting as great familiarity with 
the land of snow and ice as he could have possessed if he 
had beaten Peary to the Pole. One of the stories of this 
lecture relates that while Ed was descanting upon a glacier, 
some one in the audience asked : " How fast does it move? " 
Ed did not know, but an answer must be given, and he 
quickly replied, " A mile a minute." 

" Why, Ed," whispered the man behind the curtain, " it 
only moves an inch in ten years." 

But Wolcott was equal to the occasion, and pretending 
not to have understood the question, he asked to have it 
repeated. 

" Oh," replied the lecturer, " that glacier only moves an 
inch in ten years. I thought the gentleman w T as asking about 
the velocity of the winds in that section. The winds blow 



CHARACTERISTICS 413 

around the glacier at the enormous velocity of a mile a 
minute. Hereafter I wish those asking questions would 
speak so plainly and distinctly that I can readily hear 
them." 

Quoting Mr. Carroll further : 

The next morning, flush with his unexpected earnings, Ed 
hired a pair of horses for a drive about the city, and included 
a visit to his old home where his family had lived while his 
father presided over a church in Providence. It was not the house 
itself that appealed to him, but he drove into the alley at the 
rear of the yard and asked me to hold the reins, while he jumped 
out and climbed over the tall fence, just as he had done when 
a mere lad. It seemed to give him more enjoyment than all 
the rest of the drive. 

Governor Thomas relates the following: 

On an occasion, a somewhat prolix attorney, whom I will 
call Smith, was droning through an interminable argument upon 
a demurrer, with Wolcott as his opponent. The latter was im- 
patient at his detention and paced the room with nervous strides. 
Smith finally referred to a case decided in the forties in Massa- 
chusetts, remarking that the successful attorneys were Webster 
and Smith. 

" Was that you, Mr. Smith ? " asked Mr. Wolcott. 

" No," replied Smith, " you know very well it was n't." 

"Oh! I beg your pardon," said Wolcott. " I ought to have 
known it was a son of yours." 

The effect of this sally upon the Court naturally abbreviated 
the argument, and as Wolcott made none he was soon relieved 
of his detention. 

When at a time that there was a sharp controversy on in 
the Senate between a Republican Senator and a Democratic 
colleague, a discussion arose in the Republican cloak-room 
as to the relative personal qualities of the men. Neither of 
them was especially popular, and the Senators found much 
amusement in the speculation as to which of the two men 
was preferable. Some gave one reason and some another for 
a choice, none apparently satisfactory, until Wolcott was 



414 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

heard from. " I like the Democrat best," said the Colorado 
Senator; "he sits farther away from me." 

After the caucus had voted almost unanimously for his 
election of the United States Senate the first time, Ed went 
to the Denver Club, where the chosen of his friends were 
waiting to celebrate. In all that crowd, and the rooms were 
packed, only one faintly discordant voice was heard and 
that only so in comparison. George W. Cook, then a rail- 
road man, since a Congressman, admired Henry Wolcott 
more than he did Ed, which comparison was always objected 
to by both brothers. Cook spoke so many times that even- 
ing to Ed of his preference for the brother that finally 
Ed took George by the hand and shook it cordially, saying: 
" George, that shows your good feeling toward my brother, 
and I am glad. Now, if you had a brother, I should feel 
the same way toward him." 

At another time in a small group, a man's name and 
business methods were mentioned in a way to provoke Ed 
to a terrific review of both, a review which before a jury 
would have meant a heavy sentence. 

Henry finally remonstrated, asking : " What 's the use? " 
and added, " You nor any one else can collect what he 
owes." 

Ed replied : " Henry, have I put it too strong? " 

Henry responded : " Not at all, but what good does it 
do?" 

To this Ed at once retorted : " By false pretences and 
a confidence game he got money from me; now, when I ex- 
press my full and unreserved opinion, I credit him on ac- 
count, and if I can only think of him a few times more and 
say a few more things of him, I will wipe out the score." 

When Ed purchased his country place, Wolhurst, he was 
urged to buy more land across the road, for protection at 
an excessive price. When he refused, he was threatened with 
the establishment of a " road-house " on the land, with all 
the objectionable features of such a place. This threat 
aroused all his ire, and he said to the man who " held the 
option," a well-known real-estate dealer : " Let me tell you 
for once and all, I will not buy that tract of land even if 
you should build a house and live there." 



CHARACTERISTICS 415 

Governor Shafroth, of Colorado, was at one time pitted 
against Mr. Wolcott in the trial of a suit against the Chicago, 
Burlington & Quincy Railroad for damages. The complain- 
ant was an accomplished and handsome widow, and she was 
asking for reparation for the death of her husband on the 
road. Mr. Wolcott represented the company, and when the 
lady entered and took her seat, he leaned over to Mr. Shaf- 
roth, and said, " John, I would give five hundred dollars 
if she wasn't so darned good-looking." The result of the 
trial showed that he had not miscalculated the effect of 
the lady's personal appearance upon the jury, for the award 
in her interest was exceptionally large. 

Naturally, Senator Wolcott was not in a very amiable 
frame of mind after his defeat for the Senate in 1903. He 
felt especially badly over the fact that some of his former 
friends had joined in a conspiracy against him. For many 
of them he had done innumerable favors, and the suggestion 
of ingratitude was very strong. A few of his remarks show- 
ing his frame of mind have been handed down. Some one 
came to him with a statement that Mr. So-and-so was abusing 
him roundly. 

" Abusing me? " asked Wolcott. " I cannot imagine why 
he should be abusing me; I do not recall that I ever did him 
a favor." 

Soon after the Senatorial election he was driving from 
Denver to Wolhurst with Judge Carlton M. Bliss. It was 
a magnificent winter-day. The snow sparkled upon the trees 
and the country stretched out in a beautiful glistening 
blanket to the mountains, which were only a few miles away. 
Mr. Bliss was struck with the scenery and he said : 

" Senator, is n't this a beautiful day? Are n't the moun- 
tains a wonderful sight to see? " Then, warming to his 
theme, he added: "Who can comprehend their wealth- 
producing possibilities? Who can estimate the innumerable 
prospects yet to be opened up and developed into mines? " 

" Yes," responded Mr. Wolcott, adapting Bishop Heber's 
lines, " This is a country ' where every prospect pleases, and 
only man is vile.' " ^ 

After Senator Wolcott had made his Venezuelan speech, 
a Western colleague, who was unfriendly in his attitude 



416 EDWAED OLIVER WOLCOTT 

toward the Colorado Senator, approached him, and instead of 
congratulating him as many other Senators had done, said to 
him, " Well, Wolcott, you have ruined your reputation." 
The response was sharp and quick. He said : " That is more 
than you could possibly have done, seeing that you have 
no reputation to ruin." 

Mr. Wolcott's capacity for caustic and ready speech w T as 
never displayed more markedly than in connection with an 
interview with President Harrison over an appointment to 
a Federal office in Colorado. He did not like the President, 
and the insistence of the Executive in making appointments 
in Mr. Wolcott's State without giving due heed to the latter's 
representations was the cause of still greater variance be- 
tween the two. On the occasion in question the Senator 
called to make protest over a nomination contemplated by 
the President. Finding the latter obdurate, Mr. Wolcott 
insisted upon knowing his reason for the selection. The reply 
was nettling. The President said : " It should be sufficient 
reason that the gentleman is my friend." " Oh, well," re- 
sponded the Senator, " if you have a friend in Colorado 
appoint him by all means." The retort gained publicity, 
but was attributed to John J. Ingalls, who also was at 
loggerheads with the President. It would have done credit 
to the talented Kansan; but, having heard Mr. Wolcott 
relate the incident immediately after his return from the 
White House visit, the narrator feels that he takes no risk 



The New York Herald of January 26, 1891, supplies the 
following : 

There was a little interchange of words between Senator 
Wolcott of Colorado and Senator Sanders of Montana in the 
Senate on Friday, the true inwardness of which escaped most 
people. When the Montana Senatorial contest was up in the 
Senate last session, Senators Wolcott and Plumb refused to vote 
to seat the Republicans, Sanders and Power. The latter natu- 
rally have not felt over-kindly disposed toward Wolcott and 
Plumb. On Friday Senator Sanders thought he saw a chance 
to get in a quiet whack at Wolcott. Senator Gray in the course 
of a speech asked if ex-Senator N. P. Hill of Colorado, who 



CHARACTERISTICS 417 

was recently nominated by the President as a member of the 
International Monetary Conference, did not own a newspaper 
which opposed the Force Bill. Senator Wolcott said he did, 
and that he would be confirmed in the office for which the 
President had nominated him. 

Now there is a bitter personal feeling between Senator Wol- 
cott and ex-Senator Hill, and Senator Sanders, knowing this, 
thought this was his chance to rub it in a little on Wolcott. 
So Sanders asked if Hill was a good man for the place for 
which he had been nominated. Senator Wolcott looked calmly 
at Sanders for a moment and then answered : " I desire to 
say that he [Hill] has been a member of this body, and that 
he did not get his seat after a contest, either." Senator San- 
ders turned very red at this pointed reply and did not pursue 
the subject further. 

In this connection it can but add interest to the incident 
to relate that Mr. Sanders had been the leader of the Helena 
Vigilantes who in the " sixties " had hanged and driven out 
of that city several scores of " bad " men. 

Although a showy man and much in the limelight, and 
notwithstanding he possessed a sharp tongue, Senator Wol- 
cott was at heart modest and of an extremely kindly nature. 
He did not knowingly " fool " people, and it was a difficult 
thing for any one to " fool " him. He understood his own 
limitations and always knew whether he was getting all that 
was coming to him. Illustrative of this characteristic the 
following is related : 

A Washington newspaper friend once asked him for some 
information about the proceedings of the Finance Committee. 
The Senator replied that he had no knowledge whatever on 
the subject; that he was as ignorant as anybody else of what 
the Committee was doing. 

"But aren't you a member of it?" the Senator was 
asked. 

" Yes, I am a member of it," he said, with a characteristic 
shrug of the shoulders, " but I don't run it. You don't sup- 
pose that those who do let me know what they are doing, 
do you? " 

In this remark he did himself an injustice, for no one 
knew better what was going on. He did not want to tell. 



418 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

This same newspaper man was once consulting with the 
Senator about the advisability of asking some public men 
of their mutual acquaintance to take an interest in a pri- 
vate business matter of importance to him, and said : 

" Of course, Senator, I don't want to ask to have this 
thing done simply on the strength of my newspaper 
connections? " 

" Why, you young blockhead," said the Senator, in his 
honest and impetuous way, " you don't think for a minute 
they would do anything for you if you were not on a news- 
paper, do you? " 

Another newspaper correspondent who was on intimate 
terms with Mr. Wolcott received a telegram from his paper 
one night telling him that the Senator was in possession 
of the facts in an important matter, and asked for a com- 
plete story. The correspondent called at the Senator's house, 
but he was not there and nobody knew where he was. He 
hunted the town high and low but without result. 

The next day a rival paper had the whole story. The 
correspondent also discovered that day that the Senator was 
stopping at the Arlington Hotel. He sent up his card, was 
invited in, and there in a room big enough for a whole 
family sat the Senator all alone. A number of books, com- 
prising the latest novels, were strewn about, and cigar ashes 
and empty cigarette-boxes indicated that he had been having 
a hard time to entertain himself. The correspondent began 
to tell the Senator how disappointed he had been at not 
being able to find him the day before, when Mr. Wolcott 
blurted out : 

" Oh, of course you are just like everybody else. When 
there is nothing to do you are always around, but here I 
have been sitting for forty-eight hours crazy to give some- 
body a good newspaper scoop. You never know anything 
about it until some fellow over in New York tells you." 

The Senator really looked disappointed. 

That he did not worry over disaster which might have 
befallen, but which didn't, is illustrated by the following: 

He had taken a position on a matter before the Senate, 
and while he had come out all right the result had seemed 
doubtful for a time. 



CHARACTERISTICS 419 

" You skated on mighty thin ice," said a friend who was 
inclined to remonstrate with him. 

" Well, I did n't break through," responded the Senator 
nonchalantly, and apparently dismissed the subject, 

Once a lady residing at Colorado Springs wrote her 
sister in Denver asking her to forward a corset to her and 
at the same time requesting her to have Mr. Wolcott send 
her a pass over the Denver and Rio Grande, which as the 
general solicitor of the road he of course could do. The 
Denver sister forwarded the entire letter to Mr. Wolcott 
and in due time received this reply : 

" I take pleasure in enclosing pass for your sister, but 
regret to say that, owing to the fact that I have forgotten 
the number of her corset, I cannot supply her want in that 
respect." 

THE GENEROUS SIDE 



concerning the generous side of Mr. Wolcott's nature. Many 
instances of his broad charity and gentle kindness are 
related. No one knew so much about the details of his deeds 
of this character as his long-time secretary, Mr. Chisholm, 
and he writes : 

Of his great, tender heart, his broad charity, and instant, 
unfailing sympathy, too much cannot be said. In the long years 
of my association with him I cannot recall a case when a story 
of misfortune, illness, or an empty cupboard, did not meet with 
prompt and generous response. His weakness was known and 
occasionally preyed upon. Of ingratitude he had some experi- 
ence; but nothing soured or embittered, and the next appeal 
found him as sympathetic and susceptible as ever: he could 
not turn a deaf ear to misery or want. The very last com- 
mission entrusted to me before he left Denver in November, 
1904, was to pay off a mortgage on the home of an old friend. 
" I want to do it," he said ; " it will bring such peace of mind 
to one who was kind to me in the early days." And in another 
direction his sympathy and desire to help found expression : 
many a man in Colorado and elsewhere could speak of school 
and college expenses paid; of advances made to start in busi- 
ness, or of a helping hand extended at a critical time. In such 



420 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

cases, however, he held that the advance should be regarded as 
a loan, to be repaid at the borrower's convenience, not that he 
gave grudgingly or coveted the return, but because he believed 
that such aid given or accepted on any other conditions would 
fail of its purpose and would undermine the recipient's self- 
reliance and self-respect. 

There was nothing of ostentation in his aid or charity; in- 
deed he shrank from publicity, from even the thanks of bene- 
ficiaries : cheerfully and freely he gave, content to feel that he 
had helped to comfort or relieve. 

I speak as one, perhaps the only one, who knows, and it 
can be truly said of him that his left hand knew not what his 
right hand did — his profit-and-loss account alone bearing silent 
testimony year after year to his tenderness and charity. 

When he was just beginning to get on his feet financially 
at Georgetown, Wolcott confided to a member of his family 
his horror of the spirit of avarice which came over some men 
as they acquired money, and he expressed the hope that he 
should never develop such a propensity. His subsequent ten- 
dency was so strongly in the opposite direction that it seems 
almost as though he adopted as a deliberate philosophy of 
life the theory that the way to prosper was to spend. Be 
that as it may, he seemed never to attach any value to money 
as such. He not only spent his money lavishly, but gave it 
away freely — if not always wisely. 

He found great pleasure in his acts of generosity, and 
while generally he shrank from any reference to them, occa- 
sionally he would speak of his course to friends, but only 
to defend it against their remonstrances. " It makes me 
feel good to help a poor devil," he would say. " If I did 
only one good deed in the course of a year, I would feel 
the better for it, and the more I do the better I feel. Re- 
ward? Return? The reward is in the doing." Frequently 
at the end of a day there would be a brief period of moral- 
izing, and he would say : " Well, I 've got through the day 
without consciously doing harm to any one, while I know 
I have done some good." 

A minute afterward he might deny some applicant's re- 
quest for a political office or engage in a game of cards with 
fellow Senators in which he would exert himself to the ut- 



CHARACTERISTICS 421 

most to win. But that was a different kind of a game— not 
the " giving » game. 

In more than one of his early letters from Georgetown, 
Mr. Wolcott spoke of the great kindness done him by the 
Central City banker, Mr. T. H. Potter, who had assisted 
him in locating in Georgetown in the practice of law, and 
he evidenced the most sincere gratitude to that gentleman 
for his aid. That Mr. Potter did not think so much of what 
he had done and that he did appreciate Mr. Wolcott's ten- 
dencies m the same direction, the following from him, under 
date of June 7, 1909, shows : 

" My help to him at that time was of small consequence. 
In a very short time he was on his own resources and al- 
ways thereafter was eminently capable of taking care of 
himself and helping many impecunious friends. & His fun 
and jollity cheered up many a poor tramp, who afterward 
borrowed from him." 

Governor Thomas relates this instance of public spirit 
which illustrates the man's immensely magnanimous nature: 

When in September, 1S99, the first regiment of Colorado 
volunteers returned to San Francisco from the Philippines it 
became my duty as Governor to meet and welcome them at the 
Golden Gate. It was then proposed to pay their fare from 
ban Francisco to Denver by public subscription, and I hastened 
back to Denver to raise, if possible, the funds needed for that 
purpose. Thirty thousand dollars was required. I at once saw 
Senator Wolcott and obtained his endorsement of the plan. On 
asking him for his subscription he said : - I will be one of thirty 
to give a thousand dollars, or fifteen to give two thousand dol- 
lars, or of six to give five thousand dollars, or of three to "ive 
ten thousand dollars, and, if necessary, I will be one of two to 
subscribe fifteen thousand dollars each." I implored him not 
to let his suggestions be known, since they might result in 
compelling him to pay half of the entire expense of the proposed 
Plan. In this he acquiesced, but requested me to do the best 
I could and let him know how much remained to be paid in 
after my efforts were exhausted. I did this and received his 
cneck, as I now remember, for three thousand dollars with the 
assurance that if the estimated amount were insufficient, to draw 
on him for the excess. At the same time he requested me to 



422 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

say as little about the matter as possible. Such action was 
characteristic of the Senator. 

Wolcott's qualities as a generous political contributor 
were the amazement of his political friends. In one cam- 
paign a committee called on another public man soliciting 
contributions and received a check for a considerable sum. 
The committee started for Wolcott's office, commenting on 
the prospect. They agreed that Mr. Wolcott probably would 
be liberal, but they were not prepared for such a sum as 
they were promised. 

"How much do you want, gentlemen?" asked Wolcott, 
when the committee called. 

" Whatever you feel like giving," was the reply. 

Wolcott took his check-book and wrote a check for $ 2500 
without another word. 

Mr. Nathan S. Hurd, an old-time Georgetown friend, also 
bears testimony to Mr. Wolcott's prodigal generosity. Writ- 
ing to the author, Mr. Hurd says: 

He was big-hearted and kind, and would give his last dollar 
to a friend in need, and then borrow from the next friend he 
met the amount he had given. He never forgot an obligation, 
and if you were his friend he would go any length to assist 
you. There never was a man in Colorado who was such a friend 
to me for six years as he was. He helped to keep me in the 
Insurance Department of the State against the strongest adverse 
influence. - 

Hon. Thomas Cornish, another Georgetown friend, not 
only testifies to Wolcott's delicate tenderness of heart, but 
supplies instances of it. He says : 

They talk of Wolcott becoming big-headed and exclusive after 
he went to the Senate. They forget that he had simply broad- 
ened out, that he had become a man among men; that which 
had formerly satisfied him became utterly distasteful. 

I talked to him about it once. " Ed," I said, " come back 
and mix with the crowd. Walk up Sixteenth Street and shake 
your friends by the hand. Go up to Georgetown and sit on a 
box in Spooner's store, as you used to, and eat cheese and tell 
jokes. You can get back all of this popularity if you will. The 



CHARACTERISTICS 423 

old fellows are still with you, and you will find all the young 
ones behind them. Why, I was talking to So-and-So the other 
day. You know the votes he controls. He said he would like 
to be with you, but you were too uppish. What he wanted was 
a man who would go across the street to shake hands with a 
man, while you would saunter past him, never even turning 
your head to nod." 

" Oh, yes, I remember that fellow," answered Wolcott. " He 
came to me two years ago and told how a chattel mortgage on 
his furniture was to be foreclosed and that his sick wife and 
children would be thrown into the street if he did not raise 
$250. I gave it to him, and he promised to give it back in ten 
days. He has not paid it yet, and I hate to talk to the fellow 
much or see him any of tener than I can help ; I 'm afraid he 
will think I want to dun him. I don't want the money. I was 
only chary of his feelings." 

That's the kind of a man Wolcott was. When the great 
artist Herkimer died in New York a few years ago, Mr. Wolcott 
happened to be there. He saw the artist's easel. It is probably 
the finest in the world. And he promptly bought it and shipped 
it to me. I have it now; and I value it more highly than anything 
else I have. 

Mr. Wolcott was always doing things like that; always try- 
ing to help a friend or to make life easier for him. He would 
go out of his way and to the greatest trouble to please a man 
he liked. 

Innumerable instances of his generosity to persons in 
distress could be related. One of the first cases occurred 
when he was studying law in Boston on an allowance of 
$10 a week, when, if he had had the money, he easily could 
have spent $10 a day on himself. Giving his father an ac- 
count of his Christmas expenditures, he told him that he 
had given fifty cents to a woman begging in the street. 
He realized that because of his limited allowance he had 
been over-generous, and, apologizing to his father, said : " I 
knew you would have done it." 

Once D. C. Bailey went to him with a request for help 
for a man who had suffered adversity, and asked the Sen- 
ator if he would give him twenty dollars. " Of course I 
will," responded Mr. Wolcott ; " I 'd give any man twenty 
dollars." 



424 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

He had his " ups and downs " in politics. The friend 
of yesterday was the enemy of to-day, but when such an 
enemy fell into misfortune Mr. Wolcott forgot the condi- 
tions of the present, and remembered only past favors. One 
notable case is recalled, and the name of the beneficiary 
might be given but for the possibility of wounding the sen- 
sibilities of surviving relatives. The man had stood with 
him at the beginning of his political career, but had been 
alienated in later years, antagonizing rather than support- 
ing him. In the early days he had been a man of affluence, 
but latterly had lost his fortune. He was entirely bankrupt 
when he became ill and died. Wolcott paid all the expenses 
of his last illness and of his funeral, squared up his club 
dues, amounting to $1100, and then gave the widow $1000. 

Once a lawyer of opposite political faith, who had set- 
tled in Denver after financial reverses in a Southern State, 
went to him for help. 

" I have got to have some money," he told his more 
prosperous brother of the legal profession. 

" How much do you need? " asked Wolcott. 

" Four hundred dollars," was the response, with the 
added explanation that the time of repayment was uncertain 
and political support out of the question. 

He got the money and died without repaying it. Mr. 
Wolcott cancelled the note, and turned it over to the debtor's 
executor with the especial request that the family of the man 
whom he had assisted should not be told of the obligation. 

On another occasion a poor man with a large family went 
to Washington while Mr. Wolcott was Senator, in the hope 
of finding employment. Without succeeding, he fell ill and 
died. Wolcott scarcely knew him, but when the circum- 
stances were explained he ordered that the burial expenses 
be paid, and that the family be temporarily taken care of 
and aided at his expense in getting to friends. 

During the early years of his practice in Denver, Mr. 
Wolcott became interested in a promising young man who 
had become a cripple through disease. One day he met the 
young fellow on the street and, after inquiring solicitously 
about his condition, asked if there was any hope for the 
restoration of normal conditions. He replied that he feared 



CHARACTERISTICS 425 

not. Mr. Wolcott thereupon expressed the opinion that aid 
could be found in surgery. " I am sure some of those emi- 
nent surgeons in New York could relieve the condition," he 
said. " Take my advice and see them. Give them a thor- 
ough trial. Do not hesitate on account of the lack of means; 
it will afford me sincere pleasure to supply any deficiency 
that may occur in that respect." The advice was followed, 
and, notwithstanding there was no occasion to accept the 
pecuniary aid, the gentleman to whom the proffer was made 
spoke of the incident a quarter of a century afterward in 
terms of tender gratitude. 

His attention was once called to a fine landscape just 
finished by a Colorado artist, who, like so many of his craft, 
found it difficult to make both ends meet. Mr. Wolcott 
handed |400, the price of the picture, to a friend who was 
just fitting up some rooms, and said: " You go and buy the 
picture as for yourself, and keep it in your room until I 
find some way to dispose of it. If I go to buy it, he will 
know that I do it solely for the purpose of helping him." 
The young man did as requested, and reported, after a while, 
that some one wanted the picture for what it had cost. He 
was told to sell it and to order another one painted to 
take its place. Mr. Wolcott finally gave the second picture 
to another friend. 

A stage driver of the early days frequently carried Mr. 
Wolcott from Georgetown to Denver and back again. Wol- 
cott took a fancy to the driver. Years after the stage line 
had been supplanted by the Colorado Central Railroad, Mr. 
Wolcott heard that his driver had lost a leg and was living 
in a distant part of the State in destitute circumstances. 
He made him a regular monthly allowance afterward as 
long as he lived. 

Another instance was his remembrance of a boyhood ac- 
quaintance. While the Wolcott family were in Providence 
and Ed was from five to twelve years old, Henry and Ed 
spent several summers in Belchertown, on the farm of the 
father of a boy who lived at home and helped with the 
farming and always was " good " to them. So far as is 
known Ed had no communication with him during the inter- 
vening years, but while he was in the Senate he regularly 



426 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

sent him many valuable publications, and once, when in 
Longineadow, he took a two days' drive to Belcher town, and 
after hunting up the old-time friend gave him $100. 

When as a boy at Cleveland he had charge of the family 
cow, he gave her a double allowance on Thanksgiving. The 
exceptional feed made the animal sick, — but that is not a 
part of the story. 

The farm at Wolhurst was stocked with the best horses 
and cattle. Some time after Mr. Wolcott located there, 
Henry Brady, a political supporter and personal friend, 
bought a farm near him. One day Wolcott took him through 
the stables and barnyard. Among his horses was a fine 
coach stallion. He insisted upon Brady's accepting the 
animal as a present, and, when he declined, seemed to think 
that his refusal was based upon the belief that the horse 
was of little value. To remove this objection, he entered 
upon a long explanation of the pedigree of the animal. Brady 
still refusing, he then tried to compel him to accept a blooded 
cow. " She is all right," he said over and again, " and you 
might as well have her as not." 

Some Congressmen sell their quota of government pub- 
lications and seeds to the junk dealers instead of sending 
them to their constituents, but Mr. Wolcott always was in 
the market for these and constantly flooded Colorado with 
them, every postmaster in the State sending him lists of 
names. So much did he buy that he practically put the 
dealers out of business. Some to whom the books and seeds 
were sent replied, thanking him for them. One wrote a 
letter criticising Wolcott and concluding with : " You don't 
need to think that you can buy my vote with an agricul- 
tural report three years old." Mr. Wolcott at once sent 
him a couple of sacks of the choicest books, but no further 
reply came from the disgruntled one. 

While Mr. Wolcott was earnest in his political contro- 
versies and always fought to win, he was not personally 
vindictive toward his opponents. On one occasion when 
there seemed especial reason to feel resentful toward an 
elderly man who was opposing him, one of the Senator's 
followers remarked, " Ah, well, he will not be in the way 



CHARACTERISTICS 427 

very long." Mr. Wolcott responded : " Possibly that is true, 
but it never pays to count on death as an ally; it may 
be inclined to favor the other fellow." 

If he opposed a man for office he generally did so because 
of other than mere personal reasons. His intimates recall 
only one instance in which he was evidently actuated by 
resentment. In this case the applicant for office was an 
Ohio man, who asked for a consular appointment. He had 
made what Mr. Wolcott considered an unprovoked attack 
on him during the first McKinley campaign. He had poli- 
ticians of Ohio and Colorado behind him, and his friends 
thought this influence would insure him the position. But 
Mr. Wolcott opposed him, and a Wolcott man received the 
appointment. 

We have seen how Mr. Wolcott and Professor Hill, at 
first staunch friends, became estranged, and how, while Mr. 
Hill still was well and strong, Mr. Wolcott belabored him, 
and how when he became critically ill, all was forgotten. 
Speaking of Mr. Hill before the State convention at Denver 
in 1900, while the ex-Senator lay on his death-bed, Mr. 
Wolcott said : 

I desire to voice what I know will be the unanimous feel- 
ing of this convention, when I express, on your behalf, our 
deep and genuine sympathy with that distinguished ex-Senator 
from Colorado, Nathaniel P. Hill, who is now suffering a 
serious illness. He represented our State as a member of the 
Republican party for six years. He rendered it distinguished 
and able and patriotic service. When he retired into pri- 
vate life, he differed with many of us and he differed with 
our party on many questions. It might be that he would yet, 
if he recovered; but he rendered us brave service, and whenever 
he differed with us, or found ground for criticism, he founded 
it upon what he believed to be a sense of public duty; and I 
"know you join me in hoping that he may have a speedy and 
sure recovery. 

The same generous spirit prompted him to select former 
Senator Tabor for the Denver postmastership. Tabor had al- 
ways fought Wolcott politically, and there never had been any 
social, personal, or business friendship between them. How- 



-128 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

ever, Tabor had done much for Colorado mining, for Denver, 
where he had erected the first big buildings, and for the 
Republican party by his campaign contributions. He had 
lost his money and was poor again, and Wolcott gave him 
the postmastership, with its fat salary, only insisting on 
tiie selection of competent assistants that the service might 
be properly conducted. The tender was made on Mr. Wol- 
cott's own motion. Mr. Tabor had not sought the place, nor 
had any of his friends for him. When the thought of giv- 
ing him the position came to Mr. Wolcott it so commended 
itself to him that he went ahead with it without any in- 
quiries as to how it would be regarded in Denver. 

Captain Howland, Colorado's wild-animal painter, re- 
lates an instance of Mr. Wolcott's loyalty to his political 
friends. It was during the trying times succeeding the fight 
of 1896, when Wolcott had complete control of the Colorado 
patronage. He had given a responsible place to a veteran 
Republican x^artisan whose name is not essential to the story. 
The appointment was severely criticised. He told Howland 
his critics were demanding that he should get rid of the 
man in question. " But I can't do it," he said. " He stood 
by me and I 've got to stick to him." " He did stick to the 
man," says Howland. The consequence was that the oppos- 
ing element opened war on him, and within less than three 
months had with them the very man the trouble was all 
about. " Even then," adds Howland, " Wolcott was not 
vindictive." 

As going to show the real manliness of the man, the 
following, also related by Captain Howland, goes a long way : 

He never went under false colors. There was nothing of the 
hypocrite in him. For example, it is n't usually known that 
he was a soldier of the Civil War. He was only a boy when 
he joined the 150th Ohio volunteers in 1864, and was sent to 
Washington. He was kept there, and that was one great sor- 
row of his life. Time and again I 've tried to get him to join 
the G. A. R., but he would always say : " No, Jack, I can't 
do it. I was never under fire, and such an organization as 
that should be sacred to the men who suffered for their country." 

A pretty story is told of Mr. Wolcott while he lived in 



CHARACTERISTICS 429 

Blackhawk. One evening in the early fall of 1871, a little 
half-orphan girl, at whose home there was not an overabun- 
dance of this world's goods and to whom actual money in her 
own right was an unknown quantity, discovered lying in the 
gutter in front of a store a new fifty-cent shinplaster of 
the kind in use during and for several years after the Civil 
War. It lay open and flat, but it had fallen in a shallow 
pool of water and a thin film of ice had formed over it. 
The girl was old enough to know that the piece of paper 
was money, and she wanted it. Her mind was filled with 
doubt, however. Would the money be hers if she could get 
it? Would her mother believe she had found it if she took 
it home? If not, would she punish her for bringing it? 
Above all, seeing that the valuable paper was covered with 
ice, how could she get it? It was when she was pondering 
these momentous problems that a young giant hove in sight 
— a Good Giant, of the kind that always help little fairy 
girls out of real difficulties. She did n't say anything, but 
she looked her perplexities. 

"What is the trouble, little girl?" the Giant asked in 
sympathetic tones which lent assurance. 
She told him all. 

"Certainly it is yours; certainly your mother will be- 
lieve you, and certainly we will get it," said the Giant. 
" You stay here and stand guard until I return." 

The Giant disappeared into a nearby factory, but soon 
came back bearing a tin can full of boiling water. To thaw 
the ice was the work of only a few moments. He then 
picked up the limp and wet, but highly valued, piece of 
paper, and handed it to its new owner. 

" Take it home to your mother and tell her that I said 
it was yours," said the Giant, as he went away smiling — 
smiling notwithstanding that in those days the shinplaster 
would have been as welcome to him as it was to the little girl. 
The Giant was Ed Wolcott. The mother received his 
assurance regarding the possession of the money, and the 
girl was allowed to go unpunished. 

There also is another " little girl " story, which is quite 
as characteristic as the foregoing. After he had become a 
United States Senator, Mr. Wolcott found a child on Pennsyl- 



430 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

vania Avenue in Washington, crying. At the same time he 
observed another small member of the sex scurrying around 
the corner. His heart was touched by the apparent utter 
desolation and despair of the nearby girl. He asked the 
cause of her grief. " Mamie " had taken her doll. That 
was enough for the Senator. He rushed off to the nearest 
shop, and returning, emptied a dozen dolls into the discon- 
solate child's lap, to her astonishment and delight, 

Commenting on Mr. Wolcott's disposition to relieve dis- 
tress, a Denver newspaper published the following the day 
after the Senator's death : 

One instance was related around the lobby of the Brown 
Palace Hotel yesterday. It had to do with the succor of a news- 
boy and the discomfiture of an officious policeman. It happened 
on Seventeenth Street, near the Equitable Building. 

The " newsie " was weeping bitterly when Wolcott stepped 
out of the entrance of the building. 

" What 's the matter, my boy," asked the big man. " Stuck? " 

" Ye-e-s," whimpered the newsboy. 

Just then a policeman loomed large around the corner. He 
saw the snivelling boy and smacked him sharply on the bare 
legs with his nightstick. 

" Here, you, hustle out o' here," ordered the policeman. 

" If you do that again I '11 punch your face," said the Sen- 
ator, hotly, to the policeman. Then he turned to the newsboy, 
dropped a big silver dollar in his hand and strode off up the 
street. 

Yet he was not all smiles to any person, nor did he smile 
at all to some. He could be severe and unyielding if the 
occasion seemed to demand that course. He could get an 
undesirable caller out of his office with much tact, and he 
did not permit any one to remain if he did not have the 
time or the inclination to hear what the visitor had to say. 
On such occasions he would himself gradually move toward 
the door, taking the other person with him, until, well ar- 
rived at the portal, he would bow him out, and, whether 
ready to go or not, the caller found that the adieus had 
been said and either the door was closed upon him or 
Mr. Wolcott was already so deeply engrossed in other 



CHARACTERISTICS 431 

matters as to render it quite impossible to again get his 
attention. 

Tedious or uncongenial people were an abomination to 
him and were avoided. He would not even receive a disagree- 
able message if he could find a way out of doing so. 

When the excitement over the A. P. A. (The American 
Protective Association ) was at its height, the Denver branch 
of that organization appointed a committee to visit the Sen- 
ator and remonstrate with him over the retention in his 
employ of two adherents of the Catholic faith. The two 
men heard in advance of the prospective visit. It was a 
time of political excitement, when all votes were needed and 
the A. P. A. was very potent. The intended victims were 
not so much concerned about their own fate as they were 
regarding the situation and the possible effect of such a 
presentation of the issue as was contemplated. They did 
not desire that at that time their chief should be required 
to take a positive position. 

" They '11 never mention it, boys," he said to the two 
men, when they carried to him the information of the coming 
call. "Rest easy," he repeated; "they will not get to it." 
And they did not. When the committee arrived he took the 
direction of the conversation in his own hands, and, before 
any of the members of the delegation could find an opening 
to bring up the object of the call, had bowed all of them 
out of his office. 

Soon after he first went to Washington as a Senator, 
he encountered a Colorado lady who was seeking an official 
position. She was very tedious, and, as she could not pass 
the examination required to enter the government service, 
there was nothing he could do for her except to listen to 
her complainings. He had no disposition to give up his 
time to such a course, and, taking in the situation at a 
glance, he did not permit her to even state her case. She 
had no sooner addressed him than he broke in upon her. 

I can do nothing for you, Mrs. Blank [he said in a torrent of 
words]. I know all about your case; you need not tell me. 
You cannot expect an appointment unless you fit yourself for 
it, and you can claim nothing because of residence in Colorado. 



432 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Most of your relatives have held office almost ever since they 
entered the State, and all obligation is from you to the State 
and not from the State to you. You should prepare yourself 
for the Civil Service Examination. I cannot aid you, and know- 
ing I can do nothing, I shall not make pretence of trying to 
do something. 

Certainly the lecture the woman received was most ab- 
rupt. But he was right in that he was powerless to help 
her. And he saved her the time and himself the annoyance 
of frequent interviews, which otherwise would have been 
inevitable. 

FRANKNESS ABOUT FAULTS 

Reference has been made both to Mr. Wolcott's use of 
intoxicants and to his frankness. On account of his candor 
concerning the drink habit he attained a reputation which 
he did not deserve. An instance is related by early George- 
town friends. 

He had just returned from a camping out excursion with 
some congenial friends, in Middle Park, when his campaign 
for District Attorney, his first campaign, was in its incipi- 
ency. The details of the tour are not at hand, but the mem- 
bers of the party were young and many of them convivial. 
It may be imagined that the mountain trout did not get 
all of all kinds of the " fish bait." Rumors to this effect 
preceded the party to Georgetown, so that when Mr. Wolcott 
returned he was met by a sober-minded, elderly citizen who 
seemed to feel called upon to remonstrate with the young 
man. Meeting Mr. Wolcott on the street a day or so after 
his return from the outing, he recounted to him the report 
concerning the party's conduct in the park. " And," he 
added, " I was surprised to hear that you were among those 
who were tipsy." In his reply Wolcott doubtless exagger- 
ated the condition, but under such circumstances he would 
not hesitate to do so, even at his own expense. He said 
that all had been more than tipsy, and declared that he 
had been " the worst of the lot." 

If the good man regretted the moral delinquency of his 



CHARACTERISTICS 433 

young acquaintance, lie must have received a lesson in candor 
which was not otherwise than beneficial. 

A still more striking instance was his conduct during 
his first campaign for the United States Senate. It was 
just previous to this contest that Mr. Wolcott made his 
grand plunge at Daly's club-room at Long Branch, where he 
lost a large sum of money. His political friends and ad- 
visers were fearful that the episode might hurt his chances, 
and begged him to deny the story. He smiled at their fears, 
and said : 

Whose business is it but mine? I am an unmarried man, and 
there is no one but myself upon whom any disgrace can fall. 
While it is true that I lost large sums of money at faro, it 
also is true that I had won a large sum during the day pre- 
vious on the races. It would do no good to deny it if I were 
disposed to do so, and I am not. 

What could be more candid than the following letter from 
Ed Wolcott to his father? It was written from George- 
town, January 17, 1875, and runs: 

Dear Father: 

I guess you are right in most of the good advice you give 
me. I know you have always practised self-denial to some ex- 
tent, but did you ever realize how much harder it is to follow 
good counsel than to give it? In regard to asking assistance 
from others, you don't quite understand my position. If I was 
not looking forward very anxiously to something definite in the 
future, and was not afraid that my debts would be the one thing 
in the way, I should rest perfectly easy, whether they were ever 
paid or not. My debts don't worry me, but the fear that they 
may stand in the way of success does. 

You are exactly right, too, when you say that I have been 
too much in the habit of relying upon others, that it has been 
easier to borrow than to earn. Your telling me so did n't make 
the truth any more evident to me. A man always knows his 
weaknesses and wickedness better than anybody, even his father, 
can tell him. I am always interested, though, in tracing the 
causes of such proclivities. I lay it first to laziness, next to 
the fact that I was brought up in a minister's family where 
we were always looking forward to a donation party, or a Thanks- 



434 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

giving turkey, or Mrs. Piper's five dollars; and lastly, because 
by persistent cultivation of the habit it has become almost a 
second nature with me, I fear. 

But, after all, I hope it will all come out right, and some 
day after I have repaid my friends and relatives we can afford 
to smile at the number of the victimized. 

Teach Bertie while he is yet young that beautiful hymn be- 
ginning, " I '11 Never Use Tobacco, No," and when he gets older 
he '11 not find it as hard work to stop chewing as I do. 

Ed. 

There was a generous reply from the parent; but more 
of the same good advice, with the result that on the fol- 
lowing February 10th Ed again wrote his father. The 
second letter was quite as frank as the first. It follows : 

Your remarks are timely and true, and, moreover, are kind, 
and evince, as your letters and life always have, a sympathy 
and kindness which my conduct has never justified. Even if I 
were so disposed I could n't take the least exception to your 
letter. But did it ever occur to you that writing me good ad- 
vice is like pouring water on a duck's back? I always see my 
faults very plainly, and moralize over them beautifully. Min- 
isters always like to talk to me. It encourages them in their 
work. I always agree with them, and they leave me feeling that 
there is good in me, and that they have succeeded in arousing 
me to the necessity of bringing it out. But somehow the matter 
always ends right there, until they call again. 

There is nothing new. I am behaving myself; am doing a 
fair business ; have no ambition and much laziness. I lead, some- 
how, a dreamy sort of life. I don't remember much of it; my 
past, which I recall, is the past of several years ago, and I dream, 
always, like one who has eaten opium, of a future, gorgeous, 
happy, and impossible. 

If he tried to quit the use of tobacco his conduct was 
halting as he himself testifies. Writing to his father from 
Georgetown again in February, 1875, he says: 

" I did rather make up my mind to begin giving up to- 
bacco, and have n't chewed any for a fortnight. There is 
no saving so far as expense goes, for I find I smoke all the 
more. I am going to try refraining altogether from its use, 
but don't anticipate much success." 



CHARACTERISTICS 435 

He also battled manfully against his smoking habit. 
He was always " swearing off " and he wrote many letters 
home regarding his experience in this respect. 

In December, 1883, he tells his father that he has " gone 
thirty-three days without tobacco in any form." " I am ex- 
perimenting with myself carefully in regard to the effects 
of tobacco on my system," he said. Three weeks afterward 
he reported the result of the experiment. Apparently it 
was satisfactory. " So far," he said, " my experience is that 
I am better with tobacco than without it." He was inclined, 
however, to moralize a little, for he added : " Even if this 
be so, it only shows us how potent the devil is." He then 
asked, " Who runs the anti-tobacco tract business since 
Brother Trask died? " adding that he could use " a few." 
He was still getting on without the tobacco notwithstand- 
ing his conviction that he was better off with than without 
it. " Grandfather's heart would be made glad these days if 
he could see me eat my simple dish of oatmeal in the morning 
and spend the day without tobacco," he said. 

How long this period of abstinence continued there is 
no record to show, but certain it is that he smoked vigor- 
ously most of the remainder of his life. He also was, as 
a rule, a liberal patron of the table, but occasionally in his 
later years he would order a simple bowl of bread and 
milk, and frequently he would pass long intervals without 
drinking. 

His father appears to have been anxious lest he should 
let his use of intoxicants interfere with his work during 
the campaign of 1880, the first in which he participated 
outside his own county. Replying to evident solicitude 
on this point, he wrote from Denver on September 26th of 
that year, as follows : 

I appreciate both mother's anxiety and yours respecting the 
necessity of keeping good hours, and taking care of one's health 
on the stump : but there is n't the least occasion for worry so 
far as I am concerned. I am living a perfectly regular life 
these days, and am indulging in no excesses either in the matter 
of late hours or appetite. 






He went East shortly after he had begun his connection 



436 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

with the railroads, and was elated over the fact that one 
road had retained him as counsel at $15,000 a year. A 
younger brother remarked that that was just twenty-five 
times* the salary of $600 which he then was receiving. Ed 
replied : "I'd like to bet that you come nearer paying your 
bills at the end of the year than I mine." 

Once he expressed his contriteness regarding certain of 
his habits under circumstances which brought out a witti- 
cism from his friend, Speaker Reed, at the expense of an. 
other friend, the lawyer and diplomat, Joseph H. Choate. 
The three men were dining together, Reed being the host. 
When the wine was served, Choate declined. He did the 
same when the cigars were handed around. 

" I neither drink nor smoke," observed the New Yorker 
in explanation. 

"I wish I could say that," remarked Wolcott, half 

apologetically. 

" Why don't you? " asked Reed; " Choate said it." 

" Did I tell you? " he wrote to his father from George- 
town, in 1875, "that I received a letter from the 

other day? I told Kittie a few years ago that I would 
write him, and I have done so. The Wolcotts always keep 
their word — sometimes." 

And again in the same letter : " In a letter Mr. J. Hunt- 
ington Wolcott mentions having seen Henry, and adds, ' he 
does credit to his ancestry.' If he had said if of me, and 
I had found it out, I should, probably, at once have nego- 
tiated a small loan from him." 

That he was not overawed by the greatness of deceased 
forebears may be gathered from the following extract from 
a letter to his father dated December 2, 1884 : 

" I bought of a New York autograph collector the other 
day a letter of Roger Wolcott's. I had Bert decipher it. 
I send you a copy, thinking that it might be of interest 
to you, although Roger is long since dead." 

In the course of a letter in 1884, he gave an account of 
his finances, and added: "I cannot and would not keep 
an account of my personal expenses. I would probably 
unconsciously begin < doctoring ' the account, and cheating 
myself." 



CHARACTERISTICS 437 

In another letter to his father he speaks of a magazine 
article which had been sent him, doubtless for his edifica- 
tion. Acknowledging the receipt of the paper, he commended 
the writing, saying it was true, " every word of it, and more 
too." Then he added, referring to a part of the moral story 
- The account of the little boy who paid his debts is touch- 
ing; I wish he 'd pay mine." But while he spoke lightly of 
his debts and did not lose sleep over them, he never failed 
to meet them squarely. Indeed, no man was more punc- 
tilious in this respect. But it was not like him to fret 
over a situation so long as it could not be relieved. 

Mr. Morrison relates some characteristic incidents illus- 
trative of Mr. Wolcott's character. He recalls that on one 
occasion after the return to Georgetown from a visit to an 
Eastern State, he said to Ed, « I always come back with a 
last dollar still in my pocket." « I never come back but 
that I leave the last dollar in some other man's pocket » 
responded Ed. 

What fools these merchants are [said Ed one day to Mr 
Morrison]. Why do they print their cards on the outside^ of 
their envelopes? Whenever I receive a letter from one of them I 
know immediately that it is a bill. What do I do then but throw 
it aside and, after opening it at my leisure, reply to them with 
the statement that my delay is due to the tardiness of the mails' 
If they were not so kind as to apprize me of their identity I 
should have no such excuse. 

Thomas Cornish gives this instance of Wolcott's open- 
mmdedness in regard to his own faults: 

I remember once, while a crowd of us were playing billiards in 
the Denver Club, a politician came in to see Mr. Wolcott Thev 
whispered together at the end of the hall, but we could hear 
every word. Somebody, the politician said, had raked up an 
old scandal which was to be published. It was a bitter thin* 
and probably would have done harm. 

Wolcott left the politician and came back to make his shot 
Then he rejoined him and said, "What does the fellow want?" 
Well, I think we can buy him off for flOOO," hesitatingly an- 
swered the politician. -You go back and tell him," replied 
Mr. Wolcott, "that I know so many worse things about myself 



438 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

that I would not pay a cent to suppress what he has." And 
that was the last we ever heard about it. 

THE GAME 

As has been said, Mr. Wolcott had an innate love of 
speculation, and when engaged in any game of chance, 
he played it to the limit. A friend relates an instance of 
his early tendency in this direction. While engaged in the 
practice of the law in Georgetown, Wolcott frequently visited 
Denver. In those days his income was very limited, but this 
fact did not prevent his chancing all that he had when the 
impulse came upon him. At the time mentioned, he was 
on a brief visit to Denver, and he made a call at one of 
the well-known gaming-houses, of which at that time there 
were many in Denver. The dealer was a personal acquaint- 
ance and a strong admirer of the young lawyer. Ed soon 
lost all of the little stock of ready money that he carried, 
but when this was gone he importuned the dealer to let 
him have twenty dollars worth of chips on the watch he 
carried. At first the dealer refused to take the watch, say- 
ing that he could have the chips without any security. Mr. 
Wolcott declined these terms, and pleaded so persistently 
that ultimately the chips were handed to him and the watch 
accepted as collateral for the loan. The play proceeded 
furiously for a brief time, and, of course, terminated in the 
loss of the $20. With this result, Mr. Wolcott disappeared 
from the establishment. Within half an hour, however, he 
broke into the room, rushed up to the dealer and asked to 
be allowed to take the watch. By way of explanation, he 
said, " It 's Hen's," meaning that it was his brother Henry's. 
In his zeal he had pledged even his brother's watch, but the 
cool air outside the gambling-room had soon brought him 
to his senses. He then returned and, leaving his own word 
as security, carried the brother's watch aw r ay with him. 

But we must go still farther back in tracing Mr. Wol- 
cott's fondness for games of chance. 

The first of his exploits as a plunger took place when 
he was a Freshman in Yale. There was an intercollegiate 
boat-race which was rowed on Lake Quinsigamond, a small 



CHARACTERISTICS 439 

body of water near Worcester, Massachusetts. Eight or 
ten colleges, among them Yale, had crews entered. Two 
or three had exceptionally good crews, but Yale's was con- 
sidered a wretched one and no one believed that it had 
any possible chance of winning. Ed became stakeholder 
for several students of other colleges who were betting on 
their respective teams. The boys from the other colleges 
taunted Ed a good deal about the Yale crew. When he 
could endure it no longer, he finally put up at proper odds 
on the Yale force, in addition to the few dollars he had 
of his own, the big sum which he was holding as a stake 
for others. Yale won, and Ed had so much money that 
he went to New York to spend it. 

On his first visit to New York after he had become a 
citizen of Colorado, Mr. Wolcott made a visit to Wall Street 
and immediately became infatuated with that great centre 
of speculation. He said to a friend soon after his intro- 
duction there: 

This is the place for me. I like the game. In ordinary gambling 
you take chances on losing your standing in society. Some of 
jour best friends show an inclination to " cut " you after a night 
at poker; but here — why, here, here on Wall Street, a man 
can gamble to his heart's content and still be respectable. But 
it 's gambling all the same. Wall Street for me hereafter. 

He never lost his interest in the Street. He was at times 
a large dealer in stocks, and while not always successful, he 
dealt with such a knowledge of conditions that generally he 
kept " ahead of the game." He came later to regard Wall 
Street as more than a gambling centre, and he frequently de- 
fended its operators as among the most worthy specimens of 
American citizenship. 

But whether in Wall Street, on the race track, or in the 
card-room, he played zealously. The excitement of the game 
appealed to his temperament. He loved to take the chances, 
and he did take them in everything. When anything be- 
came a certainty, it seemed to lose much of its charm for 
him. He always played to win, but never was there a more 
cheerful loser. He accepted adverse results as among the 
fortunes of war, and made no long faces over them. 



440 EDWAKD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Mr. J. H. P. Voorhies, of Denver, relates an experience 
with Mr. Wolcott at Long Branch. In addition to throw- 
ing much light on Mr. Wolcott's chance-taking propensities, 
the narrative supplies a fine glimpse of the Wolcott view 
of things in general. This is Mr. Voorhies's story : 

In the summer of '88, Wolcott and I went to the Monmouth 
Park races for the opening day, stopping at the Elberon Hotel. 
The evening before, with E. A. Buck, then editor of The Spirit 
of the Times, we arranged a card to bet on the next day's races. 
Buck had considerable knowledge of past performances, and I, of 
a little of blood lines, pedigrees, and Kentucky owners and 
trainers. As it happened, of the seven events we guessed the 
first five winners, and had a " show " on the others. Ed was 
always a plunger on every game or sport, — that 's what he 
loved. Buck's betting and mine was very modest in compari- 
son, but the day was a great harvest. Ed and I drove out in 
an open victoria. The day was beautiful, the rig fine, the driver 
skilful and polite, and the way crowded with thousands. 

From the moment the " books " were ready he was busy, and 
by the time the third race had been won, with the multiplied 
capital on hand, Ed had several " bookies " well-nigh exclusively 
working in taking and placing his bets. Each time, however, the 
gong would sound — " horses at the post " — the books would close, 
with Buck and I rushing for the stand or clubhouse porch to 
see the race, and leaving Ed behind in the betting ring. He 
would say to me: " Go ahead; I don't like that mad throng; 
I will stay here and see what is doing on the next race." 

When the day was over and he and I, again in our victoria 
(the driver also a winner on our tips), slowly returning, I be- 
came enthused over our winning, the marvellous performance of 
the horses and the jockeys we had chosen, the wonderful scene 
of crowd and landscape. Indeed, everything was glorious to 
me, and I said so to Ed several times. As we neared the hotel, 
he said : " Jack, there was only one thing which marred my 

day's pleasure, and that was those d d horse-races, when you 

and Buck left me alone." 

Following Mr. Wolcott's successful attendance upon the 
Monmouth races, he made a visit to Daly's gambling estab- 
lishment at Long Branch, where he lost his track earnings 
and a large sum in addition. His course on this occasion 
was characteristic. Putting in his hat the entire amount 



CHARACTERISTICS 441 

of his winnings on the races, he insisted upon betting the 
lump sum on " the high." When remonstrated with by his 
friends, he declared that he did not want to keep the money, 
because it was " dirty." 

The incident found its way into the newspapers, and gave 
Mr. Wolcott a reputation from which he did not soon recover. 
Many good people obtained an entirely wrong impression of 
him. He did not play any game for the love of money, but 
played all games for the love of sport. But, money getting 
aside, no one could be more daring than he. He would 
bet on anything on which there could be a difference of 
opinion. At Monte Carlo, only the day before he went to 
bed for the last time, he w r on over f 30,000 at a sitting. On 
this occasion he played with utter abandon, but everything 
ran his way. So remarkable was his success that most other 
players suspended operations on their own account to ob- 
serve and assist in his game. Everybody wanted to help 
him in some way, lords and ladies being among those who 
were willing to fetch and carry for him. The day before, 
he had lost heavily, and after he left the gamin g-hall, he 
said : " I wanted to show them that they could not win 
all the time; I am more than even now, and I won't go 
there any more." 

Speaking of his proclivities for gaming, Mr. Stealey says : 
" Mr. Wolcott was a dead-game sport, and would stack up 
the blue chips on a poker lay-out as high as the ceiling, if 
the dealer would permit." 

Once Mr. Wolcott visited Jackson City, which in his 
time was a gambling resort in Virginia, across the Potomac 
from Washington. The place figured much in the news- 
papers of the day, and he wanted to see for himself what 
it was. Being on the ground, he must play, and he had 
been so engaged for only a short time when he found that 
he was operating against a " brace " game — a game in which 
the dealer stacked the cards to his own satisfaction. After 
he had lost a considerable sum, Wolcott pulled the last note 
out of his pocket, and, throwing it on the table before the 
dealer, said: " What 's the use of working so hard? I un- 
derstand your system, but not so well as you do. I know 
you '11 win the money in the end ; but I hate to see you 



442 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

labor. I therefore turn the money over without requiring 
you to go through the rigorous role of dealing so often." 
With the speech, he left the place, disdaining to pick up 
the note. Afterward he said he thought the house " needed 
the money." 

He despised ordinary card " sharps " as few other men 
could. Illustrative of this disdain is the circumstance of 
his compelling one of them to desist from his operations 
during an entire voyage across the Atlantic. The fellow was 
a Denver gambler who had been run out of the Colorado 
metropolis on account of dishonest practices. Wolcott found 
him aboard a ship on which he was crossing to England. 
When discovered, the " sport " was engaged in a game with 
a party of respectable men. At the first opportunity Mr. 
Wolcott called him aside. 

" How much have you won? " he asked. 

The gambler admitted having pocketed f 3000. 

" You '11 contribute that amount to the Seaman's Fund 
and refrain from playing all the way across," said the 
Colorado Senator. 

He knew so much of the man's record that the fellow 
could not refuse to obey. The Seaman's Fund received an 
unexpectedly large contribution the next morning, and doubt- 
less many of the passengers were protected from a humiliat* 
ing fleecing. 

PRACTICAL JOKES 

Not only was our subject given to verbal jest, but also to 
" practical jokes," in which action as well as speech was 
required. The miners of Georgetown tell many yarns of 
his funny performances. 

Once he noticed a wagon-load of cordwood climbing the 
steepest hill of the little camp. He jumped up behind the 
pile, which hid him from the driver, and rolled off log by 
log until the cart was nearly empty. Those were days when 
men were shot for less offences. But the owner was pacified 
by double the price of his load, — and it was just like Wol- 
cott, in his generous impulse, to leave the cords for the 
use of the poor of the wayside. 



CHARACTERISTICS 443 

When Wolcott went to Yale he was made the subject of 
a hazing experience which was not to his liking. He im- 
mediately set out to get " even." He organized the Fresh- 
men, and a few nights afterward the hazers found their 
leader securely chained to a tombstone in a far-away ceme- 
tery — the result of Wolcott's planning. Ever afterward he 
was a defender of the practice of hazing. He had found it 
a game that both parties could play at — fine sport. 

" Laughing gas " was a new discovery in Mr. Wolcott's 
high-school days, and members of his chemistry class de- 
cided upon a demonstration of its properties before the 
school. Edward was chosen as the first one to experiment 
on ; but he did not feel any effect from his supposed in- 
halation. However, he had no thought of disappointing his 
schoolmates, and he gave them a fine demonstration of what 
the gas should, if it did not, do. The incident occurred in 
the days of his minstrel enthusiasm, and he gave a " walk 
around " after the most approved fashion, accompanied by 
a song and ending with a dance, to the edification of the 
entire school. Temporarily the study of chemistry in Mr. 
Wolcott's room was much stimulated by the experiment, and 
the joke was not discovered until another " subject " was 
experimented upon. He failed to get results, and investiga- 
tion developed the fact that all the gas had leaked out before 
the experiments began. 

In a letter to his father of March, 1871, he tells the fol- 
lowing relative to an experience with the gentleman at whose 
house he was staying: 

I do not see the Congrcgationalist. It is a Republican sheet, 

and that damns it in 's sight. He is a tremendously bigoted 

old gentleman. The strongest kind of a Democrat— thinks slav- 
ery was a divine institution, and swallows the Bible bodily. I 
have had him tremendously worked up lately by suggesting that 
the passage in Job should read " for though after my skin- 
worms destroy this body," etc., and giving him learned and 
valuable descriptions of the skinworm. He has been consulting 
innumerable Concordances, Notes, etc., to prove me in the wrong. 

One phase of the man's disposition is illustrated by the 
following incident: 



444 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

General Hamill took Mr. Wolcott riding one day in 
Denver, when both were comparatively young men. From 
Hamill's manner Wolcott conceived the idea that his friend 
was timid and said to him: 

" Why, Bill, I think you are afraid of those horses." 

" I am not afraid," replied Hamill. 

" Well, we '11 see whether you are or not." With these 
words Wolcott seized the lines, and throwing them on the 
backs of the horses laid on the whip. 

The horses ran away and the two occupants of the car- 
riage were thrown to the earth, but Wolcott seemed to think 
it a great joke when he proved that Hamill was not exactly 
afraid of the horses. 

Once when Mr. Wolcott was dining with some friends 
at Delmonico's in New York, a Colorado man, who was 
noted at home for his vanity, entered the dining-hall and 
took a seat without observing the Wolcott party. 

" Watch me have some fun," he said to his companions. 

Sending for the manager, he pointed out the Coloradoan, 
and, taking him into his confidence, told him that he wanted 
to pay the visitor's bill. 

When the gentleman had completed his meal and volun- 
teered to make settlement, the manager intervened. " There 
is no charge, Colonel," he said. " Your reputation has pre- 
ceded you, and the house feels so flattered at having you 
dine here that it desires you to accept its hospitality." 

The deception was not suspected, and the air assumed 
by the visitor as he left the hall was fully enjoyed by the 
Senator and his friends. " It was worth the price," Wolcott 
said afterward. 

As has been told, Mr. Wolcott was a sleep-walker. The 
habit came near getting him into trouble once when cross- 
ing the Atlantic; but his readiness of thought and quickness 
of speech saved him. It appears that after getting out of 
his berth and possibly trying in vain to find the door or 
to determine where he was, he shouted excitedly, " Where? 
Where?" To the ship's crew the cry sounded like "Fire! 
Fire ! " and soon the fire department of the vessel was 
thundering so vigorously at his door that he became wide- 
awake. He took in the situation immediately, but he did 



CHARACTERISTICS 445 

not want to attract disagreeable attention to himself by 
making an explanation. To be sure be had heard the sound ; 
but he was certain it had come from the steerage. So he 
told the firemen, and they left him undisturbed while they 
proceeded in their unavailing search for the " fire." 

While very quick in some matters, Senator Wolcott was 
slow in others. He did not always give attention to details. 
Once when, during the Harrison Administration, he found it 
desirable to obtain an official position for a retainer in Colo- 
rado, he sought the advice of Senator Teller, who then, like 
Mr. Wolcott, was acting with the Republican party. One of 
Wolcott's clerks entered his office while he and Teller were 
in close conference on the subject. They had the Blue Book 
open before them. This is an official publication giving the 
names of Government employees together with their salaries, 
and evidently they were scanning it in the hope of discover- 
ing a place to their liking. At last they raised their heads, 
but seemed to have obtained very little information as the 
result of their research. As Mr. Wolcott looked up he saw 
the clerk and asked him, " Do you know of some place we 
can get for this man?" explaining the circumstances which 
made it necessary to give him a position. After some con- 
versation the employee reminded him that Congress had 
only recently passed what was known as the " Meat Inspec- 
tion Bill," which provided for the appointment of several 
hundred inspectors at good salaries. 

" When did that bill pass? " asked the junior Senator 
from Colorado. 

" Oh," replied the secretary, " within the last two or three 
weeks, and both of you voted for it." 

They then recalled the measure and each laughed heartily 
at the expense of the other as they walked off arm in arm, 
bent upon a visit to the Secretary of Agriculture in the hope 
of obtaining from him the coveted appointment, in which 
it may be stated, for the satisfaction of the curious, they 
were successful. 

Generally preoccupied, Mr. Wolcott did not always recog- 
nize acquaintances on the street. This trait of character 
made many enemies, and it made some that were not de- 



446 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

served. Remonstrated with frequently by his brother Henry 
for the failing, he would just as often promise to reform, 
and he made the effort every time. In one such attempt 
he made himself the subject of general jest on the part of 
the Denver Club. Meeting on the street one day a familiar 
figure, he recalled his promise to Henry and hailed the man 
with a hearty greeting that must have surprised him. The 
man was going in the direction of the Club building, and 
as the Club was Mr. Wolcott's destination he joined him 
and walked with him up to and into the building. When he 
separated from his companion he was told by his amused in- 
timates that his new friend was the Club barber! The in- 
cident had in it no feature of annoyance for Mr. Wolcott, but 
the joke is still told with zest over the Club tables. 

One of a number of artists whom Mr. Wolcott was en- 
tertaining at dinner toward the close of his Senatorial ser- 
vice engaged the Senator in serious conversation, naively 
asking him in the course of the interview whether he was 
a Republican or a Democrat. The inquiry greatly amused 
the host, and he often quoted it to illustrate a favorite con- 
tention that comparatively few people give heed to public 
affairs or care much about public men. 

The fact of Ed's frequent confinement in the guard- 
house, while as a sixteen-year-old boy he served in the Army 
during the Civil War, has been detailed elsewhere. There 
is a good story going with one of these incarcerations. He 
was very fond of a spirited horse, and his captain was the 
owner of an animal which appealed to Ed's taste. One day 
he prevailed upon the hostler to let him ride the horse for 
a canter down the road. The road led to Washington, some 
five miles distant, and, well mounted as he was, young Wol- 
cott decided to pay his first visit to the Capital of his coun- 
try. He did so, and in style. Unfortunately, however, he 
met the owner of the horse face to face on Pennsylvania 
Avenue. Result: A dreary trudge back to Fort Saratoga, 
and an unusual term in the lock-up. 

JESTING WITH THE FAMILY 

That Mr. Wolcott did not spare his family in the per- 



CHARACTERISTICS 447 

petration of his jokes is the best possible evidence that he 
really loved fun for fun's sake and that he did not employ 
his wit merely for the sake of being disagreeable. 

Mr. Wolcott's father was the object of many of his 
sallies. He never tired of getting off jokes at the expense 
of his elder, and many of his best thrusts were made at 
him. That this tendency was due to a lack neither of affec- 
tion nor respect, his many utterances and acts to the contrary 
demonstrate. The explanation comes along more agreeable 
channels. It is found primarily in the fact that the younger 
Wolcott enjoyed badinage more than most men do, and, like 
all men capable of saying a good thing, he did not like to 
speak without eliciting a response. The father was as capa- 
ble in this line as the son; he gave as good as was sent; 
he was a foeman worthy of Edward's steel. Moreover, he 
was quick to appreciate an exhibition of intellect even at his 
own expense. Edward had full knowledge of all these facts. 
The witticisms directed at the father bear internal evidence 
of their inoffensiveness, and are fine examples of their au- 
thor's capacity to say a bright thing without being bitter. 

Already we have told of his suggestion that the father 
as a hymn-writer and a gentleman who was a composer 
should get together, with the result, as he put it, that in such 
event " they could make a great deal of money, and on very 
little capital! " 

While a student he wrote his father on one occasion that 
being somewhat out of sorts he had been drinking " vichy " 
with beneficial result. His father replied that he could 
not recall any beverage by that name as being neces- 
sary when he himself was seeking his education, and he 
hoped it was not an intoxicant. His father, who was author 
of many church hymns, liked to submit them for his son's 
criticism, and in the same letter he enclosed his latest pro- 
duction. The reply he sent his father was short and char- 
acteristic. " Don't be alarmed," he wrote. " Vichy is wide 
from being an intoxicant — as wide as the lines you sent are 
from being worthy of publication." 

And here, in a letter dated March 5, 1881, is an example 
of his forcible manner of calling his father's attention to 
the fact that he was growing negligent in letter-writing: 



448 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

" I was very glad to get your letter, and to ascertain 
definitely that there was nothing wrong with your right arm. 
I had begun to be somewhat anxious as I hadn't seen a 
line from you since last December." 

We have heard of the piety and of the necessarily modest 
habits of life of Mr. Wolcott's father and mother, and we 
know that he came of a long line of Puritan ancestry on 
both sides. Hence, the point of the following: At a time 
when Wolcott was suffering from a severe attack of gout, 
one of his friends called upon him and was sympathizing 
with him. " It seems strange to me," said the Senator, 
" why I should be afflicted as I am. I have done everything 
I could think of to relieve the pain; my life hasn't been 
such that I am entitled to suffer so; I have thought it all 
over, and the only conclusion that I can come to is that 
it must be hereditary." 

While probably he would not agree that Mr. Wolcott's 
ills were due to any hereditary taint, Hon. Charles Page 
Bryan comes near finding a kindred explanation for his pen- 
chant for mischief. " I have," he says, " often thought that 
the exuberance of clergymen's sons is largely due to the 
pent-up animalism of a self-denying life finding vent in the 
children who possess, with virtues of the mind, excessive 
weakness of the flesh." 

It was at about the Hudson school attendance period that 
one evening at a church sociable the elder Wolcott strolled 
into a room where several persons were standing and where 
his third son was leaning against the mantelpiece in what 
struck his father as a lounging attitude. 

" Edward," said he, " could you not find anything else 
in the room to support you? " 

The reply came at once, " Not in your absence, father." 
Dr. Wolcott visited Cambridge while Ed was there and 
stayed at the son's boarding-place. Ed behaved himself cir- 
cumspectly and kept regular hours for several days. But 
finally something detained him one night, and he did not 
reach the house until ever-so-much o'clock. He let himself 
in quietly, and was trying to creep noiselessly to his room, 
when, as he was passing his father's door, he heard the 
striking of a match, and he was called in. After his wont, 



CHARACTERISTICS 449 

he made a frank avowal of the circumstances that had de- 
tained him, and then his father spoke. He also had the 
floor-walking habit, and he moved back and forward as he 
reviewed the various opportunities that his son had failed 
to improve, and deplored the present revelation of his way 
of life. Ed sat in silence until the complaint had been 
fully poured out, but in the pause that followed it seemed 
incumbent on him to make response. 

" Father," said he, « can you tell what is the difference 
between the Prodigal Son and myself? " 

" No," said the elder man, in nervous vexation ; " I don't 
believe there is any difference." 

" I will tell you," said Ed. " The Prodigal rose and went 
to his father; my father rose and ivent for me." 

" Edward," said Dr. Wolcott, " go to bed." 

In 1868, when only twenty years old, we find him writ- 
ing to his sire from his place of business in New York: 
" It is n't quite three weeks since I have heard from home^ 
but it is pretty near it. I conclude you are locating Lot's 
wife or some other mythological landmark, and are too busy 
to write." 

Writing to his mother in 1875 he said : 

Father used to like to tell me how he had never given his father 
a moment's anxiety, and what a splendid feeling it was ; I now 
appreciate it, and realize it in my parents. Father is travelling 
from Birmingham to Cow Corners, but I never retire at night 
without the happy consciousness that he is doing his duty, al- 
though, as an M. C. said the other day, it is a bad year' for 
ministers. 

Again, three years later, from school at Cambridge to 
his father : 

" Your sermon in the Christian Advance was not one of 
your best. But I can give it the recommendation that 
fathers can introduce it into the bosom of their families 
without fear." 

Writing to his mother in 1872, of his lack of funds, his 
extravagant habits, etc., he tells her of his friend Potter, 
who assisted him in getting started in Georgetown. "He 
has," says Ed, " attended father's preaching, which evidently 



450 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

accounts for his good heart, etc." In this letter he speaks 
of his birthday, 26th of March, and draws conclusions from 
the fact that it came so near the 1st of April, April Fools' 
day. " I never thought of it before," he says, " but it cer- 
tainly is not my fault." 

That his disposition did not change with age and honors 
is evident from the following: 

In 1881, after his term as a State Senator had expired, 
he received a letter from his father enclosing an obituary. 
The father had written of a neighbor who in life had not 
been highly esteemed. " By the way, as an Irishman would 
say," wrote Ed in acknowledgment of the letter, " we never 
know how many good qualities we possess until after we are 
dead — do we? " 

That he took the same liberty with other ministers that 
he did with his father is evidenced by the following from a 
letter to the father dated June 13, 1875: 

" Those Presbyterian ministers came out, some forty of 
them, to Georgetown. I did n't have the pleasure of meet- 
ing any of them, but they said here in town that when the 
yellow-legged chickens saw them coming they commenced 
climbing the mountains." 

When at school Ed's allowance was quite inadequate to 
meet his wants. He would earn extra money if he could 
find a way to do so, and he would borrow — if he could find 
a way to do so. Once when his brother Henry called upon 
him while he was pursuing his studies, he " struck " that 
gentleman, not better supplied, but more economical, for a 
loan of ten dollars. At first declaring that he could not 
spare so much from his funds, Henry at last yielded on 
the promise that the money would be refunded through a 
letter when Ed should receive his next allowance at the end 
of the month. With the new month came the promised letter 
from Ed. " Dear Henry," it ran, " find enclosed ten dollars 
— if you can." 

For reasons of his own, Mr. Wolcott was not an enthusias- 
tic supporter of Mr. Blaine when he made his campaign 
for the Presidency in 1881, but he gave him his vote. He 
wrote his pious mother about his attitude, and referring to 
Mr. Cleveland's election, without expressing regret, added: 



CHARACTERISTICS 451 

"Fortunately partisanship did not warp our judgment 
sufficiently to prevent Henry and me from betting a little 
on the winning side. This is wicked. Mother, but after all 
it 's a sort of balm." 

These two extracts from letters are at the mother's 
expense : 

From "Cambridge, 1871 ": 

1 ""• ;m sometime to read some commentary writings after 
reading the writings themselves, for since once in Providence 
mother and I started to read the Bible through in a rear and 
;"' ;l ^ far ;ls Leviticus, I have sadly aeglected the Scriptures: 
1 hope mother has n't 

From Georgetown, L872, referring to one of his sisters 

who was then visiting Colorado: 

(, "<- thing more would make her about perfect, and thai is a 
^ttle spice of the h-v-1. i:„, | d<m >< ,„,,„, to rr]<vn . Arh 
Mother, for her early education, for thai is nol responsible for 
"• and inheriting your disposition, as she does, how could it 
appear in her? 

Mr. Wolcott has himself told as how his Grandfather 
Pope helped him out of pecuniary difficulties ou more than 
one occasion, but he did not always do so when importuned 
Following is one of Ed's hints to him through a letter to his 
father from Blackhawk, in 1872: 

" r may have to ask you for funds as you offered in your 
etter >to< I hope 1 won'1 have to. I feel as if I could scrape 
throng!, somehow. T know it is vain, but I can'1 help hop- 
tog that Grandfather will do as Jesus told Zacchaeus to do 
when he | V.. 1 was « up a tree,' i. e. } ' Come down. 5 » 

That Mr. Wolcoti was the life of the household when 
r u;,s;1 ^ there is little doubt, in new of the testimony 
of his brothers and sisters on this point. He generally was 
1,1 ■•' romp with some member of the family, and was a great 
l"^" 0d one occasion, his father wrote to an absenl mem- 
" r " f the family: « It seems like Sunday; Ed is -one." 

Mr Carroll tells us thai Ed and his friend Ed* Selden 
puce drove thirty miles to the Connecticut Kiver to watch 



452 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

the fishermen haul for shad. " I well remember a trip with 
him, six miles to a pond in the country, to bob through the 
ice for pickerel," says Mr. Carroll. " It was a severely cold 
day, the ice thick and holes difficult to make. Axes proving 
too slow, from the neighboring farmers two crowbars were 
secured, and both lost through the ice, that we had to settle 
roundly for. Not a fish was caught, but he inserted so 
much fun into every bitter experience that it was a day 
of rare enjoyment." 



AS ORATOR, LAWYER, AND LEGISLATOR 

BEGINNING with his career in the Colorado State 
Senate, Mr. Wolcott's reputation as an orator soon 
travelled beyond the bounds of the State. His first 
call to outside effort came from the New England Society 
of New York, in 1887, and the address then delivered gave 
him immediate rank as one of the great orators of the 
country. It is published in the volume of Modern Eloquence 
which is devoted to "after-dinner" speeches, and together 
with the address delivered before the same Society ten years 
later, constitutes a splendid addition to English literature 
as expressed in American oratory. After the New England 
Society speech came many invitations to attend dinners, and 
to make political speeches; but comparatively few of them 
were accepted. The reputation as a national orator made 
at New York was enhanced by his Yale Alumni speech, by 
his speech nominating James G. Blaine for the Presidency 
m 1892, by his speech at Philadelphia in commemoration 
of Mr. Blaine's virtues after his death, and by campaign 
speeches in New York, Iowa, and other States. ' 

Of all his speeches the most noteworthy was his address 
as Temporary Chairman of the Republican National Conven- 
tion m 1900. He labored over this speech for weeks, and the 
result was an address that won general commendation not 
only because of its diction, but on account of its subject- 
matter. This may fittingly be given the first place in all of the 
Colorado orator's forensic efforts, and it is safe to say that it 
long will hold front rank as a keynote convention effort 
His Venezuela speech in the Senate is an honorable second 
and his Denver speech of 1896 does not trail far behind 
the other two, if at all. 

453 



454 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

The Colorado campaign speeches are full of " local color," 
but interspersed with matter of this character is much of 
high patriotism and many gems of eloquence that will long 
attract favorable remark from those who read the collection. 
Beginning with the first of the speeches, that of 1880, and 
running to the last, the notable address at the Coliseum Hall 
in Denver, in 1904, almost a quarter of a century after- 
ward, the collection is interesting throughout. The con- 
test of 1896 was the most trying of all his campaigns, and 
the three speeches made in Colorado that year are among 
the most unique in modern political history. For variety 
of expression; for the blending of sarcasm and persua- 
sion; for fairmindedness and high ideals, as also for pug- 
nacity and banter, the Denver speech of that year has few 
equals among campaign efforts. He had on his fighting 
clothes in those days, and his most effective speeches were 
always made when the enemy was in the field and when the 
odds were against him. 

With but few exceptions, his speeches in the Senate were 
the most carefully prepared of his oratorical efforts, and 
many of them are models of expression. He thought more 
of his speech on the Monroe Doctrine as involved in the 
Venezuela boundary dispute than any other, but his pref- 
erence probably was based on the circumstance that, with 
sentiment running strongly against his pro-English utter- 
ance, the delivery of the speech required a higher degree of 
moral courage than most of his addresses. For the same 
reason, his speech in opposition to the Force Bill commended 
itself to him. But those two speeches contained other ex- 
cellences than daring. He knew that he was right, and to 
dare for the right was an enjoyment to him. The fact that 
he was making a righteous fight in both cases called out the 
best of all qualities in the man, and they are fine spe- 
cimens of all-around oratory. All of Mr. Wolcott's speeches 
in defence of the Spanish War, as well as those on the sub- 
ject of silver coinage, are worth reading as the most succinct 
and the clearest presentation of the reasons which actuated 
him in taking sides on these two important subjects. Prob- 
ably he gave more care to the preparation of his review of 
the operations of the work of the International Bimetallic 



CHARACTERISTICS 455 

Commission of 1897, of which he was Chairman, than to 
any other speech made by him in the Senate, and it was 
everywhere pronounced a wonderfully lucid explanation of 
the Commission's work and of the reasons which brought 
it into existence. Indeed, he proved equal to all the ora- 
torical tests of the Senate, and well sustained there the 
splendid reputation he had made before entering that body 
Mr. Wolcott's first speech in the Senate, made after he 
had been a member for only a little more than a year, was 
m defence of the cause of silver, but it also had in view 
the exposure of the attitude of the Harrison Administration, 
and this was so skilfully and effectively accomplished that 
the Colorado Senator immediately was given front rank not 
only as a Senatorial orator but as a man who was to be 
reckoned with in shaping national affairs. 

STRUGGLES AGAINST ODDS 

Probably to Mr. Wolcott's admirers the most surprising 
revelation of this memoir will be the fact that he was no^ 
an orator m his early professional life. He spoke so readily, 

iffiT *' !?* S ° f0rdbly ' aDd With so much a PP^ent self' 
confidence that it is difficult to believe that he ever had 
any difficulty m facing an audience or expressing his views 
-that, indeed, there ever was a time when he was not an 
orator. But we already have seen that he was very back- 
ward in speaking, and we shall discover that his trouble was 
more pronounced than yet has been stated. And, while the 
timidity was largely overcome, there were times in the hey- 
day of his career that it would assert itself. A Washing- 
ton newspaper man relates that on the day in 1898 when 
Senator Allen of Nebraska made his attack in the Senate 
on he Bimetallic Commission, he found Senator Wolcott 
walking up and down one of the corridors of the Senate 
wing of the Capitol confessedly much perturbed and greatlv 
embarrassed over the necessity of replying. 

Nor was the trouble confined to the delivery of his 
speeches. He distrusted himself also in the preparation of the 
substance matter, especially in the earlier days of his career 
Declaring himself deficient in information and ideas we 



456 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

find him appealing to his father for assistance even after 
he was well started upon his public life. This distrust was 
not due to the neglect of early training, but existed despite 
it. Indeed, there would appear to have been a sufficiency 
of confidence when at school and when preparing for his 
career as a lawyer. But be this as it may, the early days 
of practice in Colorado were characterized by a timidity 
which came near terminating his career almost before it was 
begun. 

Fortunately we have abundant testimony from men still 
living regarding Mr. Wolcott's first oratorical efforts, and 
in view of the fact that his great reputation was based upon 
his success as a speaker it has been thought well to present 
the facts fully. Senator Teller has told us of Mr. Wol- 
cott's lack of confidence in himself in his first appearance in 
a civil suit, and Hon. Clinton Reed, of his difficulties in the 
first criminal case he conducted as Prosecuting Attorney. 
While he won the civil suit, it was in the criminal proceed- 
ing that he lifted himself into fame. In addition to the 
statement of Mr. Reed, we have the testimony of two eminent 
witnesses relating to this event, which occurred in Boulder, 
the county seat of Boulder County, which was one of the 
six counties constituting the First Colorado Judicial Dis- 
trict, in which he was public prosecutor from 1877 to 1879. 
One of these witnesses is Hon. Charles S. Thomas, former 
Governor of Colorado, and the other Mr. R. S. Morri- 
son of Denver, a personal friend and a former resident of 
Georgetown, where Mr. Wolcott resided. Of him at this 
time Mr. Morrison says: 

Employed in important cases he shirked no labor imposed 
upon him except the defence or attack by oral delivery, placing 
the burden of this entirely upon his associates and thus neces- 
sarily relegating himself to the less conspicuous portion of a 
lawyer's varied duties and neglecting the one item which more 
than all others combined advertises the talent of the attorney 
and brings him success, remuneration, and fame. 

Mr. Thomas bases his statement on Mr. Wolcott's own 
impartations to him. In a paper prepared for this work, 
he tells of his first acquaintance with Mr. Wolcott while 



CHARACTERISTICS 457 

the latter was practising law at Georgetown. " The estimate 
then entertained of Mr. Wolcott by the bar was somewhat 
unusual," he says, and then proceeds : 

His abilities, although actual and evident, seemed to be en- 
tirely neutralized and rendered worthless by a reluctance to 
appear in court, which seemed to be the outgrowth of an almost 
unmanly lack of confidence in himself. He could not summon 
to his aid sufficient resolution to stand upon his feet in the 
court-room and address either court or jury. So patent was 
this condition that Wolcott almost became an object of con- 
tempt among his associates, who could not reconcile his strong 
and dominating personality in the ordinary affairs of life with 
such apparent pusillanimity in connection with the most use- 
ful and vigorous relations of the profession to the world at 
large. This peculiarity, I think, seriously affected Mr. Wolcott's 
standing at the bar, and unquestionably interfered with the 
attainment of that success which afterward became so great. 

There were two men, however, who had the most abundant 
faith in Mr. Wolcott's capacity as an attorney, and who de- 
termined that he should not fail if they could prevent. One was 
his elder brother, the Hon. Henry R. Wolcott, then of Gilpin 
County, whose fraternal affection was at all times steadfast and 
unwavering, and whose devotion to his brother in my judgment 
proved the one great and enduring foundation for all that Ed- 
ward O. Wolcott afterward accomplished. The other was the 
late Senator Nathaniel P. Hill, then of Blackhawk, a firm friend 
of the Wolcott family, and a great admirer of both the brothers. 

These two gentlemen procured from the Republican District 
Convention in 1876 the nomination of Edward O. Wolcott for 
the office of District Attorney, to which he was elected in October 
of that year. He immediately qualified and began his discharge 
of the duties of that office. In order to compel Mr. Wolcott to 
appear in court and conduct prosecutions in person, Messrs. Hill 
and H. R. Wolcott quietly secured a promise from all the 
attorneys of the district that each and all of them would refuse 
to act for or in place of the District Attorney. He was there- 
fore compelled by stress of these conditions either to meet and 
pass the ordeal or to resign his position and thereby confess 
himself a failure. The latter alternative he was not only too 
high spirited to consider for a moment, but the moral support 
of his brother and Mr. Hill made it absolutely impossible. 

His first term of court as District Attorney was at Boulder, 



458 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

and his first case an indictment for some unimportant offence, 
the nature of which I do not now recall. He tried the case, 
addressed the jury, and obtained a conviction. Several times 
in after years, in conversations with myself, he referred to this 
case as the turning point in his life, and I do not for a moment 
doubt that this was so. He said that when he arose to begin 
his speech the room swam before him, everything was virtually 
blotted from his vision, and he saw neither the jury nor the 
partitions forming the enclosure of the court-room; what he 
said, if he said anything, he did not know; he only remembered 
his statement in closing that, if the jury believed the witnesses 
for the prosecution, they must convict the defendant. He took 
his seat and was recalled to the consciousness of practical affairs 
by the warm congratulations of some of the attorneys, one of 
whom was the late Hon. Willard Teller. After the case ended, 
the court took a recess, whereupon Judge Beck left the bench, 
and, taking him by the hand, spoke a few simple but fitting 
words of approbation. 

His next case was, of course, a little easier, and when 
the term ended he had permanently overcome his great pro- 
fessional deficiency. Those who in after years were permitted 
to listen to his public speeches will find it difficult to be- 
lieve that during his first five or six years at the bar he was 
unable to summon sufficient courage to argue the simplest mo- 
tion in the simplest controversies. Indeed, he once expressed 
astonishment that he ever should have labored under such a 
difficulty in view of its total absence after that term of the 
Boulder County District Court. 

Apparently Mr. Thomas labored under the impression 
that there had been no preparation for the speech, as he 
tells us that its author informed him afterward that when 
he ceased speaking he did not know what he had said. But, 
while after a lapse of years it probably was Mr. Wolcott'a 
impression that he had been unable to recall his words, we 
have his own testimony to the contrary, showing that soon 
after its delivery he could have repeated at least a portion 
of the speech. This testimony is found in a letter to Mr. 
Wolcott's father, of date September 1, 1877. It is evident 
from the text that he had made request for suggestions in 
framing the speech. Here is an extract from the letter : 

I had a crowded court-room to hear me, and many pleasant 



CHARACTERISTICS 459 

things said to ine afterward. A speech or any part of it never 
sounds as well on paper as when spoken. I was able to use 
some of the thoughts you gave me. If it were not too long I 
would like to repeat from memory a part of the close. 

Probably the speech had not been written, but evidently 
it had been carefully thought out. Indeed, it was character- 
istic of Wolcott to have prepared himself for the ordeal 
which he knew must come. He never spoke without prepara- 
tion if he could avoid so doing. 

Of the same event, Mr. Morrison says : 

The case of The People vs. Thomas Kerwin was called. The 
jury were sworn and the opening statement made. The examina- 
tion and cross-examination of the witnesses brought out his 
powers of analysis and the overcrowded court-room began to 
appreciate the fact that there had been no mistake in the selec- 
tion of a lawyer without trial experience to present the pleas of 
the people. But when the concluding speech for the prosecution 
at last brought to the surface the latent capacity o f Mr. Wol- 
cott to move the heart and control the judgment of his hearers, 
making him, notwithstanding he was only in his first case, the 
greatest orator at the bar of this young State, the surprise, 
astonishment, and enthusiasm produced a scene of applause and 
victory which that court-house had never seen before. 

The only instance in history conspicuously like it in all its 
circumstances is that of Patrick Henry when he tried his first 
case and made his first speech before the Board of Burgesses. 

Speaking of the immediate as well as of the after effects 
of the speech, Mr. Morrison tells us that " the greater part 
of the strength of Mr. Wolcott lay in those elements which 
cannot be reproduced upon paper." But he also tells us, 
in continuation of the narrative, that 

the influence upon the crowd that heard it was so great that 
carrying, as they did, their report to their homes and neighbors, 
repeating, as is the instinct of human nature to do, the impres- 
sions made upon them to their fellows as they met them, the 
news of the wonderful effect of this speech within a day was 
carried to every part of the county, speedily spread throughout 
the State, and within the compass of a narrow lifetime, the name 
of Edward O. Wolcott became familiar in every part of the Union 



460 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

as that of one of the few men who pass the bounds that dis* 
tinguish the orator from the speaker, and his fame became so 
broad as even to cause him to be mentioned as a possible can- 
didate for the highest office within the gift of the American 
people. 

The civil case told of by Senator Teller is that of Edward 
Eddy vs. The Western Union Telegraph Company, and ante- 
dates the Kerwin prosecution. Mr. Wolcott was not re- 
quired to speak on this occasion. Referring to the incident, 
Mr. Teller said: 

While I was attending court at Georgetown on one occasion 
in the territorial days, Wolcott came to me and said he had a 
case for trial the next day. He added that it was his first suit, 
and saying that he felt a little insecure, asked me if I would 
not sit beside him during the trial. I said I would with pleas- 
ure, and did so. He got a verdict for all he sued for, about 
$150, I think, and while the amount was small, I doubt whether 
he ever afterward obtained a verdict that gave him as much 
pleasure as did that one. 

The record of another very interesting civil case of those 
early days in the First District, the conduct of which serves 
to throw light upon the character of our young lawyer and 
rising orator, has been supplied by Mr. Morrison. This was 
the civil suit of Stoll vs. Lee, involving title to the Lone Tree 
or Argentine mine. The trial took place in Georgetown. 
Says Mr. Morrison : 

The plaintiff kept a saloon with all the appurtenances — dance- 
hall and singing girls; roulette, faro, and poker. Chips then 
were current coin of the realm. Gorgeously lighted, Stoll's 
place had more attractions than any resort of the kind in the 
mountains. It was the place of congregation for all sorts of 
sporting men, where they fattened on the miners, who went in 
with pockets full and came out with pockets empty. 

Jerry Lee, the defendant, who was Mr. Wolcott's client, was 
a negro of marked force of character. Born a slave, he had 
purchased with his earnings his own and his wife's freedom, 
after which they came as pioneers to Central City, and strange 
as it may seem, Lee was almost the first man to project and 
build a smelter for the reduction of ores, which was located at 



CHARACTERISTICS 461 

the base of the mountain where his Argentine lode lay. Of 
course, he was a hero among the people of his own color, and he 
was known and respected bj every citizen in the community. 

The case involved the construction of mining patents and 
apex rights and the law was against Lee. His surveyors, Frank- 
lin K. Carpenter, afterward a scientific man of international 
reputation, and E. Le Neve Foster, who became State Geologist, 
informed Wolcott that they could see no line of development 
favorable to Lee. Wolcott said : "I am not going to the jury 
on the law or the facts, but on the theory that no man with 
a record like Jerry Lee's ought to lose what he honestly thinks 
is his." I recollect his speech to that jury. He had the ground- 
work on which to paint the shades and colors of the artist. 
He pictured Lee as a slave toiling on the plantation under the 
overlook and lash of the driver, and told of his conception of 
the thought of freedom, of his bargain for the purchase of his own 
and his wife's liberty by his own labor, and of his migration to 
regions thousands of miles removed from his birthplace, to a 
country, new, savage, and unknown, where, in spite of the odds 
in favor of a dominant race, he became the acknowledged leader 
of his own people. 

Against this picture Wolcott drew the contrasting scene : the 
leadership in vice of a man who held out to the young, to the 
inexperienced, to the hard-working laboring class, all the tempta- 
tions which allure to the taste of evil pleasures in the bowl, 
the dance, the dice, the card-table, and the smiles of painted 
women. 

The jury found for the negro. 

Letters to and from his father reveal the fact that he 
not only gave thoughtful attention to the preparation of 
each individual address, but that the general subject of 
speech preparation and speech delivery was much in his 
mind. We have seen that from the beginning of his career 
his father and his grandfather regarded him as different 
from the ordinary person, and he early was destined for the 
profession of the law. Not only was he to be a lawyer, but 
in the father's dreams for him he was to attain to eminence. 
Generally young Wolcott either fell in with this thought or 
suffered it to be entertained without protest. But not so 
always. He had not concluded his first State campaign in 
1880 when he became tired of the fuss and fury of the life 



462 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

of the stump speaker, and we find him writing to his father 
and protesting against being regarded as " a Man of Des- 
tiny." " It involves too much of sham and pretence," he 
said. He appeared at that time to think that he had readied 
the zenith of his career, when, poor fellow, he was only at 
its threshold! 

FIRST LISPINGS 

Great as was Mr. Wolcott's fame as a lawyer and bril- 
liant as was his career, both were of most modest beginning. 
Timid as he was at Georgetown and Boulder, he was not 
entirely without experience as a public speaker. He had 
been the talker for a picture show! But no! The begin- 
ning antedated that experience. It came when a youth of 
probably not more than eighteen years of age and while he 
was a student at the Norwich Academy. Then his speech 
was written — evidently a carefully prepared argument. At 
least one must so judge from the only account of it that 
has come down to us. The authority is no less than Ed's 
sister Kate, — Mrs. Katherine W. Toll, — who in 1870 wrote 
her brother a letter on that and other subjects, when she had 
reached the mature age of sixteen. The paper on which the 
letter is written is yellow with age, but the document tells 
its story. It not only supplies a key to the early inclina- 
tion of the brother, but it shows that even in that far-away 
day he gave attention to the important fact of preparation. 
This is the pertinent portion of the letter : 

Mr. Jewett asked me the other day if I heard from you, and 
how you were getting along. He said he remembered your 
taking him to Grandfather's and reading him that speech, or 
whatever you call it, in favor of Jeff. Davis. It was a debate 
you entered into ; was n't it with Mr. Lyon ? He said he re- 
membered it very distinctly, and I told him that I did, too, be- 
cause you made me sit and watch the clock to see how long it 
took you to go through with it. It began, " From the time 
when the Constitution was first drawn up," etc. 

Unfortunately for the purposes of history this important 
manuscript has not been preserved, and similarly unfortu- 
nate is it that the verdict of the jury, or the judge, has been 



CHARACTERISTICS 463 

lost to the world. If only we could know whether Mr. 
Wolcott saved his client ! Some of the other letters bearing 
on this period speak of his participation in a joint debate 
which was a part of the closing exercises of the school, and 
it is probable that the paper here referred to was the speech 
prepared for that event. 

That, however, the success of the young orator even at 
that remote period was not left to chance we may further 
infer from the testimony of his teacher in elocution at the 
Norwich Academy. This teacher was Prof. Roswell N. 
Parish. Prof. Parish's letter was elicited by a request from 
A. P. Carroll to him in the interest of this work. Mr. 
Carroll wrote Mr. Parish, May 8, 1909 : 

The last time I visited the Senator, after listening to one 
of his magnetic speeches in the Senate, before crowded galleries 
(as was invariably the case whenever it was known that he was 
to speak), our conversation on our way from dinner to the Club 
turned to the scene of that afternoon, when, taking me by the 
arm and stopping me in the park we were crossing, he said : 
" Whatever ability I possess as a public speaker I owe to the 
training that Parish gave me in the Norwich Academy " — a 
tribute to your teaching which ever since I heard it I have 
thought you should know. 

Writing in reply from Brookline, Massachusetts, on the 
16th of the same month, Prof. Parish said : 

I remember the boy " Ed " Wolcott as a big, hearty, manly 
fellow whom to teach was a pleasure, whose companionship was 
a delight. I was young then myself, you know. Among my 
treasures is a letter from him dated " Senate Chamber, January 
2, 1891," in which, after a statement almost identical with that 
of your note, he refers to our declamation work together " in 
the library downstairs in that blessed old Academy," and he 
adds, " The recollection of it all is more vivid than any other 
of my school or college experiences." 

Here is the key to his success as an orator, my share in which 
was very small indeed : Like all boys who can " speak pieces " he 
was ambitious to excel ; but an intense desire to find adequate ex- 
pression to thought and feeling and a real pleasure in so doing 
were the potent factors determining his schoolboy efforts. " The 
recollection of it all " so " vivid " is thus accounted for. So 



464 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

quick was he to appreciate the force of a criticism or the value of 
a suggestion that he seemed to wait almost impatiently for the 
last word of instruction, eager to attack the passage again from 
the new point of view. It was too easy for him to " let himself 
go," — he might readily have been made a ranter. My office was 
simply to hold the reins over his enthusiasm, — to emphasize, — 
to secure an indication of power in reserve. 

Rut proficiency in declamation was only a small part of 
Wolcott's equipment as an orator. I cannot but believe that, 
whatever his training in this respect might have been, the abil- 
ity, vigor, sincerity, and sense of propriety that so strongly 
characterized the boy would still have carried him to the front 
among public speakers in later years. 

I remember distinctly that last " prize speaking " at the 
Academy when Wolcott gave us the " Irish Aliens." He seemed 
no Ed Wolcott then, but the original speaker, his soul on fire with 
indignation, his voice quivering with rage. " Thrilling " was the 
word I heard from an auditor when he left the platform. That 
was no schoolboy declamation, but real eloquence, the promise 
and foretaste of the future. 

I would gladly give you incidents if they had not vanished 
with years. But the impressions made by a strong personality 
remain. I can see the Senator take you by the arm and stop 
you in the park for that remark. Evidently he was still the 
boy, alert, impulsive. A charming, lovable fellow, was he not? 

Another instance of his success in speaking while still 
a youth is given. One day while he was at Yale he and 
some other boys started to attend the circus, but they first 
determined to see the wonderful mysteries of a certain side- 
show. The ticket-seller had had poor luck, and the Yale 
boys began to banter him. They told him that Ed Wolcott 
could soon get the crowd inside for him, and, much to the 
delight of the Yale crowd, Ed mounted the box and began 
selling tickets. He soon had most of the people listening 
to him and in a short time filled the side-show tent with an 
eager crowd, so intensely had he aroused the interest of his 
out-of-door audience. 

Mr. Wolcott has left a brief account of his participation 
in the proceedings of a debating society while in the law 
school at Cambridge. Writing to his father under date of 
December 8, 1870, he says: 



CHARACTERISTICS 465 

I am very much interested at present over the question of 
Free Trade and Protection, though as yet I have not read up 
much on the question. I don't know whether I told you that we 
have at the Law School besides smaller societies one to which 
almost every member belongs called " Parliament," conducted 
very correctly and according to the Manual, and there we settle 
conclusively some of the great questions which seem to bother 
other statesmen. We have settled almost everything but the 
Free-Trade question. 

In other portions of this work, Mr. Wolcott's connection 
with a travelling panorama has been detailed. It will be 
recalled that while studying law in Boston he took this work 
to piece out his income. The experience was beneficial to 
him in more ways than one. Undoubtedly the deviation 
from his duties unsettled him somewhat in his studies. " But 
it has," he tells in a letter of the time, " given me con- 
fidence before an audience; it has shown me that I am very 
deficient in extempore speaking, and that I must cultivate 
it, and it has also shown me, although I don't mean to 
speak of it egotistically, that I have an unusually fine voice 
for public speaking, though pitched in a high key. I had 
taken on a severe cold, but my voice has not failed in the 
least." 

COLORADO BEGINNINGS 

From the stereopticon experience in New England in 
1870, to the courts in Colorado in 1877, was a long distance 
both in point of longitude and time, but what he must have 
gained in experience he apparently lost in courage. He still 
had the voice, but he lacked the confidence to face an 
audience. 

Nor, if we may judge from his appeals to his father, was 
his confidence in his capacity for preparation complete. We 
have seen how, soon after his election as District At- 
torney, the young man applied to the elder for help, and 
how he acknowledged the aid thus obtained. Mr. Wolcott 
was accustomed to consult his father at almost every turn in 
the early days of his District Attorneyship. In one case, 
where he expected that the defence would try to awaken 



466 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

sympathy for a man accused of murder, on the ground of 
his advanced age, the young official expressed thankfulness 
for a Scriptural quotation, the last clause of which he said 
he could use effectively. The quotation ran : " The hoary 
head is a crown of glory if it be found in the way of 
righteousness." This was not the first time that the father's 
suggestions were invited; nor was it by any means the last. 
The requests went forward as long as Dr. Wolcott lived. Not 
only did Ed ask assistance in the preparation of his ad- 
dresses, but often when completed they were forwarded for 
the careful inspection and trained censorship and criticism, 
of the father. 

One of the best examples we have of his pleas for help 
is contained in a letter dated at Denver, September 30, 1880. 
In it he also mentions past favors. " E. O." then had just 
come from his triumph at the Leadville State convention, 
the first State political meeting in which he ever had figured 
conspicuously, if at all. He had been mentioned for Con- 
gress and had made a generally good impression. Let him 
continue the story: 

I have promised Governor Routt, Chairman of the State Com- 
mittee, to stump the State this fall. I shrink from it as I 
never did from anything, and fear I shall make a complete 
failure of it; and my fear is augmented from the fact that 
everybody seems to expect me to do so well. But I suppose 
I shall have to make the attempt somehow. 

I have no knowledge whatever of the political history of 
my country and the vaguest ideas of what I can talk about; 
I suppose my speeches will be reported more or less fully, and 
I 've got to vary them somewhat. 

When I was a youngster at school, you used to help me 
out with my declamations. When I was to graduate at Nor- 
wich, it is my recollection that you composed most if not all 
of my address (and by the way, I remember it was very well 
spoken of), and when I had my first murder case, and was 
entering upon my first prosecution as District Attorney, I re- 
lied materially upon you, and was greatly assisted by you. In 
fact, whenever I get into a tight place, I find (and I say it 
not the least disrespectfully) that I turn involuntarily to the 
"Old Man." Won't you help me out again, Father? I have J 
got one or two beginnings and ends. I want some more. I can 



CHARACTERISTICS 467 

never, even in a law case, do anything good unless I can com- 
mence and " taper " intelligently. I want also any good speeches 
you can lay hold on, and would feel obliged if you can find 
at any bookstore any hand-books or compendiums of any kind 
that will inform me as to the past of the party and the country, 
with dates, details, and statistics, and send me the bills (for 
the books I mean ; the other, the help you render me, will have 
to go into the old account which nothing I could do would ever 
repay) . 

Business is not good, and my time is pretty much my own; 
but I feel a disinclination even to attempt any preparation. 
Did you ever feel this in the face of necessity for work, and 
the more pressing the necessity, the greater the aversion? 

The response came promptly and was full of points evi- 
dently to the liking of the young orator. Acknowledging its 
receipt, he said: 

Your letter and one of the books came last night, and I 
am obliged for your suggestions and Will's. I have the matter 
of my speeches now in my mind, and have material for several. 
What I was after in my letter to you, were the little turns 
which save a speech from dulness, some figures or similes, and 
some ideas as to commencings and endings. You are very apt 
with these, and I distrust myself. 

In this letter Edward Wolcott made an important promise 
to his father. " I shall certainly follow your suggestion in 
respect to standing always on high ground," he said, and 
he added, " I have done this uniformly in my jury cases." 

In certain of his moods, Mr. Wolcott was given to self- 
depreciation, and he was in the habit of acquainting his 
father with his state of mind. A few specimens will suffice. 

On October 13th, after the campaign had begun, we find 
him analyzing and picking flaws in his own methods. He 
had found, he said, that he could not make a speech of 
more than thirty or forty minutes' duration. 

My material gives out, and I am unwilling to talk statistics. 
I speak altogether too fast, something over 200 words a minute, 
and I lack self-possession. I shall be able to improve these de- 
fects somewhat, but I need more experience than this season 



468 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

will give me before I shall become a particularly good talker. 
It is in me to a certain extent, but I can see the limit to my 
powers in that direction. 

He found too, according to this introspective letter, that 
his speeches were " always the same." He was not con- 
scious at the time of having committed a speech to memory. 

And yet [he says] two thirds of it is in precisely the same lan- 
guage, word for word, each evening. My mind runs in just that 
groove and will not leave it. I could not, to save me, change 
that speech, unless, possibly, I had to — that is, had to deliver 
two speeches in the same place to the same audience. So I am 
accepting the inevitable, and giving them the same speech. 

He acknowledged in this letter that he had been " par- 
ticularly successful in his stump speaking," and yet he de- 
clared he was " heartily sick of it," and he wanted to cancel 
most of his engagements. " But Henry and my other friends 
won't listen to it. I have shown," he added, " that I can 
do that sort of thing, and have satisfied myself of it, and 
that seems enough." 

On the 25th of October, he had concluded his cam- 
paign and he sent home a copy of the Denver Tribune of 
that date containing the first full report of a speech by 
him that ever found its way into print. After speaking of 
the effort he takes his father into his confidence concerning 
his recent and new experiences. 

I am [he says] so glad it 's over. I 've had some thirty invita- 
tions for this week, and have declined them all. I shall not 
speak again except perhaps for half an hour with Belford, the 
night before election. The only pride I have had in the whole 
matter was that I might gratify you and Henry, and might 
justify the good things my friends have said of me. I was 
glad to get your appreciative letter, but your hope as to my 
future is founded on an exaggerated belief in my abilities, and 
this in turn comes only from your fondness for me, which blinds 
your judgment. It is very pleasant to believe that I could do 
almost anything, but if it is all the same, Father, I 'd rather 
not be a " Man of Destiny," as you suggest. 

A somewhat awkward contretemps occurred in connec- 



CHARACTERISTICS 469 

tion with one of Mr. Wolcott's early speeches. He was 
booked for an address on Forefathers' Day in Denver in 
1881, and he was told in advance that he would be expected 
to respond to the toast " Connecticut." When, however, 
the dinner came on, he was asked to speak on the subject 
of " Massachusetts." Necessarily, having prepared his 
speech, he was somewhat disconcerted. But he was equal 
to the occasion, and the speech is still remembered as one 
of the brightest and wittiest of his earlier efforts. It was 
in this address he said jestingly that, while, in Heaven, 
New Englanders would sing the solos, people of other sec- 
tions of the country would be permitted to join in the chorus. 

This address, like many others of the period, was the 
subject of correspondence with his father. It was at this 
time that the ^Yolcott Family Memorial was published, and 
acknowledging a copy of it under date of December 9th, he 
said: "I haven't had even time to read the Memorial. I 
have promised to respond to the toast of Connecticut at a 
dinner on Forefathers' Day, at which Governor Pitkin, Gov- 
ernor Evans, and others are to speak, and I am glad the 
book is here, for I know I can crib something good from 
it. I don't for the life of me know what to say about 
Connecticut." 

Presumably, he got along better with Massachusetts than 
he would have done with Connecticut. No adequate report 
of the speech was printed in the papers of the day, but the 
Denver Republican tells us that he " referred briefly to the 
triumphs of the Old Bay State in the Revolution and Re- 
bellion and spoke of the influence she had exerted on litera- 
ture and politics." A somewhat more extended reference 
was made by the Rocky Mountain News, which undertook, 
but evidently in the reporter's own language, to supply an 
extract. Following is the quotation from the News: 

I see that we are not alone here, but that we are surrounded 
by others who are so unfortunate as not to have been born in 
New England. But I am willing to admit that these are human 
beings and that when they die they will undoubtedly go some- 
where, and though they may not range so high, they will un- 
doubtedly get a harp that they can play on, after a fashion. 



470 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

They call this a New England dinner, but I don't think the 
New Englanders have ever sat down together to so good a 
dinner as this since the days when they used to steal corn from 
the Indians. 

There is much in Puritanism that will survive forever. It 
was a protest against formalism, against the union of Church 
and State. The Puritan spirit bred a race of statesmen whose 
learning and patriotism shed a lustre over the whole nation, 
and they did one thing which we Western States would have 
done well to imitate : they annihilated all the marauding Indians 
of the border. I am proud of my New England ancestors; and 
this leads me to say that I was originally asked to respond for 
Connecticut, as some of my ancestors came from that State, but 
as Connecticut is known as the land of steady habits I thought 
I was not hardly the man to reply for it. 

March 5, 1881, about the time his term as a State Senator 
closed, he wrote his father saying he was out of politics and 
indicating indifference to the law as a profession. Evi- 
dently he was in one of his " blue " moods. Referring to 
his future, he said : " My business is good, but I am not 
very fond of my profession. I hate the jar and contact of 
it. I want to be ' let alone.' If some morning I could 
wake up and find myself rich, I could do nothing, and be 
happy. Not a very honorable ambition, is it? " 

In October of the same year, he wrote : " I am far 
from being a good lawyer. I lack depth, and I constantly 
find myself getting beyond my depth." 

It would appear from Mr. Wolcott's correspondence that 
up to 1884 he never actually put a speech on paper. He 
made prompt report to his father on this first written pre- 
paration of an address. At that time he did not believe the 
practice would prove beneficial to him, and was inclined 
against it because he thought it made him too dependent. 
Part of the written speech was delivered in Denver on July 
15th of that year. It was the subject not only of a letter 
to the father, but of one from him, and as both letters bear 
on the general subject of the younger man's oratory they 
are given entire. July 13th of that year, Mr. Wolcott 
wrote : 

A year ago the Press Association elected me their orator for 



CHARACTERISTICS 471 

this year. I was so busy that I had but a few days to prepare. 
The thing was a fizzle and the address never delivered. I was 
glad of it, but glad also that I prepared the address. It is 
the first time that I ever wrote a speech or address. It is not 
a good thing for me. When the written words are before me, 
my imagination and my memory both refuse to act, and I am 
confined to the written words. I venture to send it to you. 
Will you please read it? Give me your candid opinion of it, 
and return it to me. I know of no critic whose opinion I would 
accept as soon as your own. It seems to me to be true, dignified, 
and very commonplace. Unless a man can rise above the level, 
he had better not attempt to teach. Some of it I shall use in 
a political speech which I am to make next Wednesday evening. 
I do not expect to do much in the canvass, but shall probably 
have to make a few speeches. 

Ten days later, July 23d, Dr. Wolcott replied: 

Your favor, 13th instant, was duly received, and I return the 
enclosed with thanks, after reading it carefully. The first im- 
pression which I receive from the address is, that it is a very 
different thing from what they were expecting when they invited 
you. They looked for a brilliant and witty effusion; instead of 
which they received a sober talk, a solid lecture. This, how- 
ever, does not condemn it. Wit should be unpremeditated and 
irrepressible; it is apt to become stale if it is bottled up for an 
occasion. When you put your thoughts on paper you should 
be as practical and sensible as you can be. This was your suc- 
cessful aim; and it is better than to have tried to be witty. 
If you do not enhance your reputation for wit, you do for good 
judgment and sound sense, which is better. 

The sarcasm of exempting the youthful press of Colorado 
from the sweep of the criticism is perhaps a little too keen. I 
hardly think that some of the men before you could have helped 
feeling that you were dissecting them, which strikes me as an 
undesirable process for such an occasion. Another impression 
not wholly desirable is that there is a little too much of ap- 
parent self -vindication in it. It is an elaborate justification of 
your bolt of last year. It will come with more effect from 
you, if deferred for a year, and after you have supported the 
regular ticket by a few speeches. 

You spoke of using it in part in a campaign speech; and I 
did not see how it could be done. But the speech has just 



172 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

come to hand, and I see that you have used a portion of it 
very effectively. The self-vindication does not seem to me here 
to be out of place, but rather to be called for — yet not to be 
repeated. This speech strikes me as in every respect admirable 
and I am glad that you have made it. 

REASONS FOR SUCCESS 

To Mr. Wolcott's distrust of himself may be attributed 
his success as an orator. It caused him to prepare his 
speeches with exceptional care, and this preparation resulted 
in a system which in the hands of a person of his taste, 
judgment, and general capability must insure success. Anx- 
ious ever to excel; humiliated by failure in any undertaking; 
confident of his own ability but distrustful of himself before 
a crowd, he took no chances in his speeches because of un- 
preparedness. Not only did he give thorough consideration 
in advance to his speeches, but he put the most important 
of them on paper. He appreciated the many disadvan- 
tages of the written speech, but far greater than these, 
in his mind, was the possibility of failure or of a poor effort. 
When typewritten, the speech was committed to memory 
and delivered as if extemporaneous. The result was an 
oration prepared in the quiet of the study and finished in 
every detail of thought and diction, and delivered with all 
the charm of voice and manner of which he was capable. 

He possessed the impulse of public speech. He told Clin- 
ton Reed before he began his oratorical career that he had 
an infinite longing to appear before an audience. His abili- 
ties were known to his friends. They pressed him to en- 
deavor, and their demand corresponding with his own de- 
sire must in the end necessarily bear fruit. Mr. Thomas 
has told us that he was placed in a position where he could 
not avoid talking. If, then, he must speak, he must speak 
to the best advantage. He did nothing in an ordinary way, 
and his appearances before the public should be no exception. 
This was his line of reasoning, and it resulted in a masterful 
success. 

Not always was the speech reduced to writing, but if 
circumstances permitted, it was. But even when there was 



CHARACTERISTICS 473 

no writing, the facts always were well in hand and the 
course of the discussion plainly marked out in his mind. 

It is not intended to convey the impression that Mr. Wol- 
cott was not capable of extemporaneous speech. Many of 
his most telling points were made without especial prepara- 
tion. But offhand speaking never was entered upon except 
under stress of circumstances, such as a running debate in 
the Senate, in an ordinary campaign, or on some other 
unforeseen occasion. 

In general discussion in the Senate, as in a set speech, 
Mr. Wolcott had few equals ; but he did not enjoy this kind 
of speechmaking, and, if he could have done so, he would 
have avoided it altogether. He prepared for these occasions 
by acquainting himself with his subject, but he could not 
present his matter in the perfect manner that he liked. The 
inference should not be drawn that he spoke merely for 
the purpose of arousing momentary attention or that he 
courted promiscuous applause. He liked the approval of 
the discriminating, but, above all, his purpose was ever the 
accomplishment of results. He did not believe illy-chosen 
language and illogical utterance capable of influencing 
sentiment or changing opinion. He considered himself un- 
justified in speaking unless he had something worthy of 
presentation, or unless his ideas were dressed in proper garb. 
Believing that such material came only by and through 
painstaking research and such dress as the result only of 
much care, he gave time and attention equally to the collec- 
tion of his facts and to their presentation, and then to the 
delivery of the speech. The result was a completeness and 
polish that could not have been obtained in a less studied 
manner. 

These are some of the explanations of his success as a 
public speaker. But they are by no means all — nor the 
principal ones. If others are to be sought one must take 
into account his superior intellect, his sincerity, his logical, 
forceful, and clean-cut presentation of a subject; his mar- 
vellous memory, which rendered at all times available his 
wide and careful reading; a courage of conviction which per- 
mitted him so to speak the truth as to touch the hearts of 
men; his deep insight into human nature; his sympathetic 



474 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

appreciation of the mood of his audience, and his capacity 
to go to the heart of things. Add to these a discreet sense 
of humor, an equal capacity for sarcasm and for pathos, a 
love of order, and an artistic temperament, and you have 
some idea of Wolcott the orator. 

There was no apparent effort at oratory in Mr. Wolcott's 
speeches. He did not employ a wide range of language, but 
his words were select. He never indulged in platitudes ; few 
figures of speech are to be found in his public utterances; 
he quoted poetry sparingly, though most aptly; he did not 
permit himself to engage in long dissertations; there was 
little of mere word painting. He told a friend that his 
vocabulary did not comprise more than five hundred words, 
but this of course is an underestimate. When he had con- 
cluded on a point, he left it with the audience and then 
proceeded without loss of time or unnecessary circumlocution 
to take up another portion of his subject, which in turn 
was similarly disposed of. 

While he intimated to his father that he desired sugges- 
tions for introductions and perorations, he did not resort 
to any great extent to the ordinary " approaches," but, on the 
contrary, generally plunged immediately into his subject. 
From the start he was direct and spoke to the point. He 
studied how not to tire his audiences, and as a consequence 
held them to the end. He would not speak unless he had 
something to say, and when there was no longer anything 
to say he stopped. He never discussed dead issues; he did 
not hesitate to call names; he was acquainted with the 
world; he knew how to entertain, and he knew that he 
must entertain in order to convince. Moreover, in his 
speeches, he held aloft a high standard of morals, and, let 
its practices be what they may, the world wants its preaching 
to be of a high order. 

But, beyond and above all other traits contributing to 
Mr. Wolcott's success as a popular speaker, was his capacity 
to grasp a situation and measure the inclination of his 
audience. This faculty was due to his broad sympathy 
with, and his complete understanding of, human nature. 
Intuitive in high degree, he read the minds of people 
almost as easily as he read their books. He seemed to know 



CHARACTERISTICS 475 

instinctively just how any given situation would affect any 
especial community or particular assemblage. He knew how 
to play upon the interests and the feelings, how to touch the 
sentiment and appeal to the ideals of men ; he appreciated the 
full effect of words and of circumstances. He knew where 
to use reason, where to play his sarcasm, and where to re- 
sort to humor and cajolery. Of vast experience, of broad 
interest in many affairs, and acquainted with all sorts and 
conditions of men, he could place himself in sympathetic 
touch with almost any audience. 

Not strange was it, then, that the man had magnetism. 
Honesty, earnestness, sympathy, capacity, high ideals, dash, 
courage, intellect, genius, superiority, are ever magnetic. 

Not Mr. Wolcott's material alone was choice; his man- 
ner was most attractive. He possessed a commanding 
figure, his dress was tasteful, and his voice was nothing 
less than fascinating. All these complements of the orator 
he knew how to make the most of. His voice was particu- 
larly helpful. It was full of music and it was capable 
of withstanding almost any strain. Apparently without 
effort, his words reached the remotest corners of the largest 
halls, and even when he spoke for the benefit of persons at 
a distance he did not produce a disagreeable effect upon 
those nearby, as do so many orators who strive for volume 
of sound. He did not permit the fact that he prepared his 
speeches in advance to mar their delivery. As he eliminated 
prosy details in their substance, so he avoided humdrum in 
their presentation. His written addresses always were so 
well memorized that the ordinary auditor did not know that 
they were not extemporaneous. 

In a word, Mr. Wolcott made a business of speechmaking. 
He never talked except for a purpose; when he spoke, he 
had an end in view beyond mere talk. His success was the 
reward of unremitting labor for each effort, and of previous 
general preparation. 

SENATORIAL AND CAMPAIGN SPEECHES 

The announcement that Senator Wolcott would address 
the Senate never failed to draw a crowded gallery, and he 
always reciprocated by giving the best that was in him. 



476 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

While he made many notable addresses on the outside, his 
fame would be secure if it rested only on his Senate addresses. 
He preferred to prepare his speeches, but he was a close 
observer of all that transpired, and frequently joined in the 
running discussion. Some thought him most effective in 
this line of oratory, but he did not think so, and the verdict 
of posterity will sustain his judgment. When a subject 
was of sufficient importance to merit any unusual effort, 
he followed the custom established by him of giving notice 
of his intention to speak. In these speeches he always 
omitted what to him seemed to be trifling details, and, 
to use the common parlance, " hit only the high places." 
He spoke with great effect and commanded the absolute 
attention of his colleagues as well as that of the crowded 
galleries. 

He treated every Senate speech seriously. For days and 
nights preceding the delivery of an address, he worked la- 
boriously upon the mass of data which he would assemble 
before him, and when he had prepared himself he proceeded to 
dictate to his stenographer. Sometimes, reading over what 
was written, he would be wholly dissatisfied with it. Then 
the matter was rewritten, and frequently, still unsatisfied, he 
would make numerous revisions. So careful was he in his 
preparation that there never was anything to add to or sub- 
tract from his prepared speeches. 

The manner of delivery was not left to chance. The 
speech completed, he would enter upon the stupendous labor 
of committing it to memory. He memorized with ease, but 
often the task was laborious because of the length of the 
prepared address. Holding in his hand his manuscript, for 
hours he would pace up and down his library or bedroom, 
repeating aloud the words, and even then he would throw 
into them all the dramatic effect which to him seemed so 
essential to render them impressive. No more notable demon- 
stration of his virile mentality ever was given than when 
he addressed the Senate upon the results of the work of the 
Bimetallic Commission. This was a long speech, and yet 
every word was memorized by him, and he delivered it in 
a superb fashion. Upon its conclusion, notwithstanding the 
subject was dry and there was a rare amount of de- 



CHARACTERISTICS 477 

tail, the usual passiveness of the Senate was broken and 
Senators crowded about him and extended profuse congratu- 
lations. A newspaper man who " held copy on him " while 
this speech was being delivered, reported afterward that 
he had not skipped or misplaced a word. 

One of his Senatorial secretaries has supplied the fol- 
lowing brief but graphic pen-picture of his chief in the 
preparation and delivery of his speeches: 

When Wolcott was preparing a speech it was his habit to 
lock the door, light a cigar, and begin pacing the room just like 
one of the wild animals at the zoo. After a long time thus 
spent, he would begin dictating, between puffs. He was a good 
dictator, his thoughts coming smoothly and his grammar nearly 
faultless. Even for his unwritten speeches he made exhaustive 
preparation by careful investigation. Notes were made and 
elaborated upon, but his memory and his ready wit were de- 
pended upon to meet the exigencies of any given occasion. When 
he got into action in the Senate on an extemporaneous speech 
he kept to his notes for a time; but as interruptions came and 
he lost his temper (which was no trouble at all, as Senators 
delighted to work him up by prodding), he threw his notes away 
or could n't find the place again, and just let himself go. It 
was at this period that the real speech began and he was gen- 
erally allowed to finish, for oratory had broken loose. 

In preparing for a political campaign, he pursued the 
plan of making a careful study of the entire range of sub- 
jects liable to be under discussion, and of mentally outlin- 
ing his views on each of them, if he did not actually commit 
them to writing. He thus had a stock prepared to draw 
from as occasion might demand. There always was more 
than was needed at any one place, and he would select from 
the store as seemed best to meet the requirements of his 
audience. It necessarily happened, as with all campaign 
orators, that often his political speeches " lapped over," and 
that there was more or less repetition ; but no two of them 
were wholly alike. There was as much variety as the par- 
ticular circumstances demanded and as general conditions 
would permit. In these speeches, as a rule, there was a 
full discussion of national questions, which always were 
presented in such a lucid way as to render them easily 



478 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

comprehended by the ordinary mind. Local and state issues 
were handled " without gloves " ; and abuses were attacked 
fearlessly, regardless of the ownership of the ox that might 
be gored. Fellow-partymen felt his lash quite as frequently 
as did his political opponents, and he did not hesitate to 
mention individuals if necessary to make his point or 
render his speech effective. The opposition press of what- 
ever party never failed to receive its share of attention, and 
frequently the castigation administered was most severe. 
He could be as sarcastic and caustic as any public man 
who ever lived, and he seemed to delight in speaking at the 
expense of the press, knowing of course that the press had 
at least an equal opportunity to reply in kind. He was not 
afraid of newspaper opposition, and did not let the prospect 
of it deter him from carrying out any given policy. The 
" yellow " press was his especial aversion. 

ESTIMATES OF CONTEMPORARIES 

Justice Brewer has told how intrepid Mr. Wolcott 
was when it would have been more politic to be conciliatory, 
and Mr. Thomas tells us that he has known but few men 
who excelled him as a public speaker. When asked for 
an estimate of the Colorado statesman, Senator Warren, 
of Wyoming, replied without hesitation : " He was the most 
eloquent man of his day." 

Mr. David S. Barry, head of the New York Sun Wash- 
ington Bureau during Mr. Wolcott's twelve years of service 
in the Senate, says of his power as an orator : 

Senator Wolcott was admitted to be the most graceful and elo- 
quent public speaker in either House of Congress in his day, and 
it is not, perhaps, going too far to say that his place as an 
orator was unique. At least it has never been filled. Physi- 
cally he was a most attractive personality, and his rich, full, far- 
reaching voice was tuneful and most pleasing to hear. His 
impetuous style was peculiar to himself and his habit of memo- 
rizing his speeches and delivering them as though improvised on 
the spur of the moment, enabled him to round out his sentences, 
adhere to his style, and keep his rhetoric clear. 

Writing of Mr. Wolcott a few weeks after he had been 



UttAKAUTJUKlSTlCS 479 

elected to the Senate in 1889, Hon. Charles Page Bryan, 
afterward Minister to Brazil and also to Portugal, and who 
formerly had been a neighbor of Mr. Wolcott's in Clear 
Creek County, said: 

In addition to the prestige of family, he is gifted with re- 
markable persuasiveness of speech. The magnetism of a Blaine 
and the domineering determination of a Conkling are likewise 
his. No young man has entered on a Senatorial career with 
finer chances. His personality is unique. Wolcott's originality 
is not eccentricity, but is rather akin to genius. From his great 
chest words flow like a torrent from the mountains, or a ser- 
mon from Phillips Brooks's inexhaustible fountain. The two 
speakers belong to the same school of oratory. Earnestness 
of tone is Wolcott's peculiar forte. He persuades his hearers 
that he is himself imbued with the belief that dire consequences 
must follow disregard of his exhortations. The reformatory 
spirit seems to possess him at times, and contrasts curiously with 
the buoyant, devil-may-care nature of the man. 

Governor Thomas supplies a general estimate of Mr. 
Wolcott as a speaker and legislator, as follows: 

I have known of but few men during my lifetime who ex- 
celled Senator Wolcott as a public speaker. His was the out- 
ward form of an orator. He was a man of splendid presence, 
with a clear and attractive voice, with beautiful and perfect 
enunciation, with few but very expressive gestures, and with 
a diction couched in the choicest and purest English, and yet 
in words of simple import and easily understood by every one. 
I have heard him on the platform, at the forum, in the Senate 
of the United States, and on miscellaneous occasions. I have 
heard him speak with the deliberation of the drawing-room, with 
the fervor of partisanship, and in the fury of passionate denun- 
ciation. No man of his time was more expressive, more eloquent, 
more sarcastic, more pathetic, or more convincing as a public 
speaker; and while serious personal and political differences un- 
fortunately marred the tenor of our intercourse during the last 
years of his life, I venture to affirm that of all the public men 
of Colorado Edward O. Wolcott is easily first in prominence, 
capacity, eloquence, and influence. As a Senator he gave the 
State a prominence and influence in national affairs that it 
never had before and never has had since. I did not agree with 



480 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

many of his views, or, except one, with any of his policies; but 
I never questioned his great genius, his tremendous ability, and 
the potent influence which he wielded in State and national 
affairs from the day of his entrance into public life up to the 
hour of his death. 

IN THE COURT-ROOM 

Governor Thomas also kindly furnishes a glimpse of Mr. 
Wolcott as a member of the bar, as follows: 

From the time of Senator Wolcott's advent as a member of the 
Denver bar until 1896, I was intimately acquainted with him, 
and at times enjoyed his personal friendship and confidence. 
During that time we were associated in the prosecution and 
defence of many important controversies, and were quite as 
frequently opposed to each other. I was, therefore, able to 
judge fairly well of his strength and weakness as a practising 
attorney. 

He was extremely impatient of details. It was difficult for 
him to investigate a complicated mass of facts, consider them 
one by one, analyze their characteristics, and either combine or 
separate them for purposes of trial. His highly nervous organi- 
zation made it almost impossible for him to utilize the time 
and exercise the patience which such a task requires. He could 
do so, if absolutely necessary, but he almost invariably left such 
work to others. He fortunately in time secured the services 
and co-operation of Mr. Joel F. Vaile, whose capacity for in- 
tricacies of detail was quite as remarkable as Mr. Wolcott's 
capacity for other things, and together they formed an almost 
perfect combination. 

On the other hand, I never knew a man with a greater talent 
for seizing upon the vital points of a controversy. This Mr. 
Wolcott could do almost by instinct. I have frequently been 
in conference with him concerning matters of detail, of which 
he heard for the first time, and I have been amazed at his 
facility for quickly sifting the vital features of a transaction 
from its less important ones, and pointing out the necessity of 
establishing or overthrowing these conditions if our client ex- 
pected to be successful. 

On one occasion he came into the court-room to assist in the 
trial of a case, of which he knew practically nothing beyond 
its title. He listened to the opening statements of counsel for 



CHARACTERISTICS 481 

the plaintiff and defence, and then seizing a tablet he outlined 
the important issues involved as rapidly as his hand could 
trace the sentences upon the blank paper. This, too, was a case 
which consumed fully ten days in its trial. 

He was most generous and courteous to associate counsel. 
He always welcomed them into his cases, and made them 
feel, as far as he could do so, that he, as well as his clients, 
depended upon them quite as much as, if not more than himself. 
There were exceptions to this practice, but they were observed 
only when the action of co-counsel justified them. 

Mr. Wolcott never liked the drudgery and confinement of 
long trials; he participated in them as a matter of course, but 
he withdrew more and more as the years passed from these 
hotly contested and bitter controversies, preferring the work 
of his office, but always having strong representation in court 
whenever the interests of his clients required it. 

Speaking of Mr. Wolcott as a lawyer in the early Colo- 
rado clays, Hon. Jacob Fillius, who knew him intimately, 
says : 

" I well remember the magnetic influence that he had in 
those days before a jury. He w r as practically irresistible. 
His method of conducting a prosecution was eminently fair. 
He was, however, most resourceful, his mentality acute, and 
his instant grasp of a legal proposition was little short of 
genius." 

In another connection will be found a letter from John 
G. Milburn, Esq., of New York, in which he presents a 
view of the Colorado attorney as he appeared when the 
two were law partners in Denver in 1882. His analysis 
of Mr. Wolcott's characteristics as a lawyer is so true 
to nature and so pertinent to this portion of the memoir 
that the following extract is repeated : 

To estimate his gifts and qualities as a lawyer is not easy 
in the case of such a complex, varied, and impulsive person- 
ability. He was not a quiet, methodical, or plodding worker, or 
a continuous student by nature or habit. He was so overrun- 
ning with nervous force and energy that every hour took its 
own line and often a different one. I do not mean by this 
that he was not capable of long stretches of work on the same 
subject, because he was, and sometimes almost to an abnormal 



482 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

extent. He did his work according to the ways of the impulsive, 
flashing, intuitive mind, moving rapidly over a subject and yet 
seeing into the heart of it and grasping its essential features, 
and always with luminous and suggestive results. The me- 
chanical work of the profession was irksome to him. His 
strength was in advocacy, that being a domain in which he 
could avail himself of patient, painstaking, and diligent assist- 
ants. His gifts and powers were natural rather than acquired. 
He had a distinctly legal mind; a voice of rare charm and 
power; a manner and personality that arrested and held the 
attention of men ; high spirits, humor, distinction, and a pas- 
sionate seriousness when aroused, and the gift of pure and 
genuine eloquence. He was an able and effective lawyer, and 
if he had given his energies and devotion entirely to the law 
he would have been one of the commanding advocates of his 
time. 

That judges as well as juries had respect for the ability 
of Mr. Wolcott to take care of himself is attested by many. 
One instance will suffice. It is related by Judge Morton 
S. Bailey, a Justice of the Supreme Court of Colorado: 

In the fall of 1880 I was a law student at Denver, Colo- 
rado, in the office of Messrs. Markham, Patterson & Thomas. At 
that time the District court-room was over the old post-office 
at the corner of Fifteenth and Lawrence streets. It was my 
custom to attend the sessions of this court on motion mornings, 
as they were called, which occurred regularly, by fixed ap- 
pointment, and were the occasions of bringing together prac- 
tically all of the members of the bar. On one of these mornings 
I recall the fact that an unusually bright and apparently capable 
young lawyer, attractive in dress, manner, face, and style of 
speech, argued a motion for a continuance in a case in which 
the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Company was defendant, 
and for which company he appeared. He was noticeably modest 
and retiring, and indeed to me seemed quite embarrassed in 
urging his application, as if new to and unacquainted with the 
work. Still he made a showing, by affidavits and clear-cut, well- 
stated argument, which then seemed to me unanswerable. 

I was captivated by the young man and his manner of pre-« 
senting his cause; not so, however, the trial judge, for scarcely 
had the young advocate resumed his seat when the Hon. Victor 
A. Elliott, then upon the bench, announced that the motion for 









CHARACTERISTICS 483 

a continuance was overruled and denied. I was filled with re- 
sentment against the Judge, and with sympathy for the young 
lawyer, at what I conceived to be an unnecessarily abrupt and 
erroneous ruling. 

In a talk that evening with Judge Elliott at whose house 
I was then stopping, his attention was called to this incident 
of the morning court session, the recollection of which had 
remained with me all day, and with the outcome of which 
I was so thoroughly dissatisfied. I ventured the opinion to 
the Judge that he had made a mistake in his action on 
the motion, which seemed to me to have merit, and at the 
same time expressed deep sympathy for the young man who 
had shown such embarrassment, and so much diffidence and 
courtesy in the presentation of his application. Thereupon 
the Judge, evidently amused by my deep concern, made inquiry 
as to whether I knew the young man, and upon being told that 
I had never before seen or heard of him, he replied : " Well, my 
young friend, there is little need for you to waste sympathy in 
this matter. That young lawyer was Ed Wolcott, and he is 
not only entirely capable of protecting the rights of his client 
in this or any other case, but he is equally well able to take 
care of himself, in any controversy, legal, political, or other- 
wise, in which he may hereafter become engaged." 

Thus it was that I first saw and knew Senator Wolcott, and 
the favorable impression then formed grew with the years and 
the pleasant personal acquaintance which came later. 

On another occasion Judge Elliott said that Wolcott 
could come nearer making a jury cry over a railroad's side 
of a case than any other lawyer he ever had heard. 

Elsewhere account has been given of Mr. Wolcott's rapid 
reading and quick apprehension of the essential points pre- 
sented by any problem, and his brother Herbert has supplied 
a word showing how this faculty was utilized in the court- 
room. He says : 

I was in Ed's office for a year and he often gave me legal 
questions to look up. When I would start to tell him what I 
had found, he would listen for the first few words and then, 
seeing what I was starting to say, he would stop me before 
I had finished the first sentence. This same quickness of 
understanding what a person was starting to say he carried 
into the trial of lawsuits, and, however unexpected the answer, 



484 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Ed was never disturbed by it, but always had his next question 
ready; and by his rapid questions, asked in a natural manner 
as though about mere formal matters, he would lead witnesses 
into places from which they could not readily extricate them- 
selves. Ed always kept his good nature when trying a lawsuit. 
He would speak in a clear voice and by his bright remarks and 
funny turns he kept the close attention of the court and jury. 

Mr. Herbert Wolcott also has kindly supplied an ac- 
count of his brother's conduct of the Bonnybel mining case, 
involving the Bonnybel property at Aspen, Colorado, then 
worth millions of dollars. This was one of the most im- 
portant pieces of mining litigation ever conducted in the 
State and attracted much attention at the time. Of this 
suit Mr. Wolcott says: 

Ed was busy during the preparation of the case, so that this 
had been in the hands of other lawyers who were assist- 
ing in the case. Ed's client was clearly and openly very 
much provoked that Ed had not given the case more attention 
and even carried his " grouch " into the trial of the case. The 
trial started, and the men who had prepared the suit called 
and examined the witnesses for the defendant, who was Ed's 
client and who still was feeling " sore " that Ed had not given 
the work more of his personal attention. The plaintiff put on 
his chief witness, a famous mining expert who had spent months 
in examining the mine and in preparation for the trial. His 
direct testimony was overwhelming. Ed then took the witness 
for his cross-examination ; and three or four hours of his mas- 
terly questioning won the case for the defendant, who turned 
up at the office smiling and chuckling and wildly enthusiastic 
for Ed. 

I recall one slight incident of this cross-examination which 
in a small way shows Ed's methods. The defendant was 
trying to show that the " Bonnybel " was not taking ore from 
a vein but from disintegrated rock, and Ed led the witness 
to say that he had been in different parts of the mine. Pointing 
out one of the rooms in the mine on a map that was in evidence, 
he asked the witness how many loose rocks he had seen in 
that particular room. He answered " One." Ed quickly picked up 
a rock that was lying on the table and said : " This rock came 
from that room; can you tell now whether there is another loose 
rock in that room or whether it is all solid vein ? " Every one 






CHARACTERISTICS 485 

in the courtroom laughed except the witness, who did not know 
what to say. Ed started at him again while he was still feeling 
dazed and annoyed. 

Mr. Wolcott's argument in the Bonnybel case was made 
November 26, 1889, less than a year after he entered the 
Senate. It was a masterful presentation of the details of 
a highly complicated piece of litigation. He showed a won- 
derfully clear knowledge not only of the facts, but of the 
law involved. The testimony of all the witnesses was ana- 
lyzed and all the points favorable to the owners of the Bonny- 
bel brought out in strong contrast to the weaknesses of the 
opposition, at the head of which stood Mr. D. M. Hyman, 
who, although largely interested in Colorado, was a resident 
of Cincinnati, Ohio. He was a worthy gentleman. But he 
was opposed to Wolcott's client. It was expedient that 
such defects as he possessed be made known. And they were. 
Mr. Wolcott spared neither opposing litigant nor his counsel 
or witnesses, while every point in favor of his own client was 
at finger's end and was made to count. For many years 
his conduct of the case was cited in Colorado as a model in 
mining litigation. 

With the litigation long since settled satisfactorily to 
Mr. Wolcott and his client, with the silver that made the 
mine valuable discredited, and with Aspen no longer the 
place of importance that it w T as, it would be unprofitable to 
repeat the entire speech. He closed as follows : 

With your verdict, whatever it may be, we shall be content. 
Our hopes, our interests, and our future are with you. You may 
impoverish and take from us our property, and add another 
neighbor's scalp to Mr. Hyman's already crowded belt, or you 
may give us a verdict that will award to us our Bonnybel mine, 
with the right to follow it wherever it shall go into the earth; 
and you could never, gentlemen, do a more gracious act, nor 
one more consistent with justice and with equity, than to give 
a verdict for the defendants in this case. 

Whether in the court-room or on the rostrum Mr. Wolcott 
was one of the fastest of speakers. He seemed never to 
hesitate for proper expression, and words followed one 
another with the celerity of shot from a rapid-fire rifle. But 



486 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

for the fact that his enunciation was distinct, reporters would 
have found it almost impossible to follow him, and even 
with this advantage in their favor, the work was difficult. 
This was especially true in the examination of witnesses. 
With him rapid speech was second nature, and he used the 
faculty both to expedite business and confound opposing 
witnesses. In the latter effort he was most successful. As 
a cross-examiner he was a terror to reporters. One instance 
is recorded where a stenographer conveniently mislaid his 
notes when called upon for a transcript, for the reason that 
the Senator's examination had come too swiftly for him. 

Mr. Wolcott argued many cases before the Supreme Court 
of the United States involving railroad, mining, and irriga- 
tion interests, and was very successful in that tribunal. 
That he made a thoroughly favorable impression there is 
attested by Justices Harlan and Brewer in their estimates 
printed as a foreword in this work. At the time these testi- 
monials were written, the Justices were in point of service 
the two oldest and most experienced men on that bench, 
and their standing as jurists is such as to render their 
joint testimony conclusive on such a subject. 

His last appearance in any court took place in the State 
District Court of El Paso County in connection with the 
contest in 1903 over the will of millionaire Myron W. Strat- 
ton of that city. He represented Stratton's son, I. Harry 
Stratton, who was the contestant. The case was compro- 
mised, and did not reach the point of adjudication. It was 
before the court long enough, however, to afford Mr. Wol- 
cott an opportunity to demonstrate that he had lost none 
of his wonderful powers of penetration and analysis. He 
showed the same splendid capacity for going to the heart 
of a subject and for bringing out its salient points as in 
the earlier days, and, as in the former time, witnesses found 
it quite impossible to evade his searching questions. There 
was no evidence of " rustiness " on account of long absence 
from the trial courts. 

SOME SPECIMEN EXPRESSIONS 

M r. Wolcott never made a dull speech. He did not allow 



! 



CHARACTERISTICS 487 

himself to do so. But some of his speeches were naturally 
better than others, depending of course on the inspiration 
of subject and occasion, and the care of preparation and 
delivery. Beginning with his campaign of the State in 1880, 
he participated in most of the Colorado political contests 
during the remainder of his life, and in that quarter of 
a century delivered himself of many notable utterances. So 
far as it has been possible to collect them, these speeches are 
printed as a part of this work, and most of them will prove 
interesting reading for many years to come. He always 
dealt with current topics, but he seldom failed to treat 
them in such a way as to give his speeches permanent value. 
All of his varied powers of persuasion, of analysis, of humor, 
of sarcasm, and of invective are well illustrated in these 
speeches, one being notable for one quality and another for 
a totally different. 

Probably the most interesting of his campaigns was that 
of 1896, when, standing almost alone among men of promi- 
nence, he held aloft the banner of Republicanism in Colo- 
rado. He made three notable speeches in that campaign, 
and probably the most noteworthy of these was the one 
made in Denver just before the close. There, surrounded 
by a small body of friends whose loyalty would have proved 
equal to the extremest test, he boldly faced a partially 
hostile audience as, through an antagonistic press, he did 
a resentful public. He felt the necessity of winning all 
the friends he could, and yet his pugnacity was stirred to 
the utmost. He was armed to the teeth for his foes, and 
yet he never was more gracious to his friends, — never more 
patriotic nor more loyal to his State. Many of his sentences 
on that occasion will bear repetition long hence — some for 
their aptness and others for their high sentiment. Where, 
for instance, will one find a clearer or stronger appeal for 
party loyalty in the face of opposition than the following 
from this speech? 

I want to say to you that intolerance is the sure symptom 
of a little soul and a narrow intellect, and wherever you find 
any blatant man or any blatant newspaper, who declares that 
you are a traitor to your party, or a traitor to the interests of 



488 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

your State, and threatens you with what he will do to you, 
don't pay any heed to him, fellow-citizens, for the friendship 
of such a man or such a paper is a degradation and a dishonor. 
My friends, stand up in the open and fight for your party and 
for your principles. Why, it is all there is in life worth living 
for. It is the very essence of our liberties. It is that which 
distinguishes us from the beasts that perish, that we have an 
honest opinion, and, please God, we will stand for it in the face 
of the world; and it is that which gives the Saxon race the 
deathless love of liberty that will not let free institutions perish 
from the face of the earth. 

There is not in this whole State a mining camp so remote 
and so inaccessible, that there are not in it two or three, or more, 
people who believe in Republican principles, and I trust they 
will have the courage to express their opinions. 

Fellow-citizens, 

" They are slaves who dare not be 
In the right with two or three." 

Or where will one find a better or more patriotic vindica- 
tion of personal conduct in public office than in this sentence 
from the same speech? 

The personal fortunes, fellow-citizens, of none of us are of 
much value, but it is of vital importance that whoever repre- 
sents any State in any public capacity should live up to his 
convictions of public duty ; and if after these scenes shall have 
passed away, when men come to review these exciting days in 
this crisis of our history, if it shall be said of me that I stood 
true to the principles of the party whose commission I hold; 
if it shall be said of me that when others yielded, I stayed; 
that when the path to popularity and applause was easy, I 
stood by my party; that when I had only to desert my party 
and betray and abandon its principles, and I would be be- 
slimed with the praise of former political opponents and a 
section of my political adherents, I refused to yield to public 
clamor because I believed it hostile to our welfare; that not 
only in the day of our victory, but that in the days of adversity 
and defeat, I still remained true to that party which has en- 
nobled our past and whose policy and whose principles offer 
us all our hope for the future ; that not alone in the triumphant 
charge, but that on the stricken field, when the deserters were 



CHARACTERISTICS 489 

many and the faithful were few, I still held aloft the banner 
you gave me in defence of what I believed to be the welfare 
of our State and the honor of our country, I shall be content. 

And for real sublimity of expression or grandeur of 
sentiment, what better example could be found than the 
following from his address before the Republican State Con- 
vention at Colorado Springs in the same year? 

Fellow-citizens, the boundaries of the States which form our 
Union are imaginary, not real; the mountains yonder, which 
look down upon us, stand like a serried column; yet just beyond 
our view they open to the West in gentle undulations, and our 
fertile orchards merge and blend with those of the common- 
wealths of the Occident. To the eastward, the plains slope 
into great prairies, the granaries of the world. The rivers which 
find their source among our mountain crags wind a tortuous 
course through many sister States before they fret their way 
to the sea. From the gray summit of the mighty peak which 
now casts its shadow over us, on, on to the rocky coast of Maine, 
there is but one land, fed by the same dews, watered from the 
same Heaven, and kissed by the same sun. No stockades or 
bristling forts divide us. We are of one race, one destiny, one 
common and immortal hope. In the century now dying, we who 
are the inheritors of the liberties secured us by our forefathers 
will build no barrier of sectional hate to sunder us from brothers 
whom we love, or to exclude from our vision the hills and valleys 
far away, where our childhood was nursed and our dead lie 
buried. 

His speech at Colorado Springs on September 15, 1896, 
his first appearance on the stump after the split in the 
National Republican Convention at St. Louis, was full of 
good things. For the most part, the address was devoted 
directly to the questions at issue, and there were some real 
bursts of oratory, the character of which is illustrated by 
the following extract: 

There are forty-five stars in our national flag, representing 
as many States, each sovereign and each settled by brothers of 
a common race and language, animated by a like and equal 
patriotism. The Union of States is indissoluble; for better or 
for worse we are allied together in the effort to secure and 



490 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

make permanent a republican form of government, where each 
man shall be free and equal, recognizing no master but the will 
of the majority. Until this attempt at self-government, the 
greatest the world in all its centuries has ever seen, shall go 
deep in ruin and disaster and failure, this Union of States 
must continue. Thirty years and more ago, this question was 
forever settled, and even in these days of poverty and depres- 
sion, I believe that the vast majority of the honest people of 
Colorado have no sympathy with these sectional appeals, and 
that the lurid fires of revolution which are threatened to be 
kindled among the hills of South Carolina will meet no answering 
beacon from the mountains of Colorado. 

In many respects Mr. Wolcott's last speech, made at the 
Coliseum in Denver on the night before the close of the 
campaign in 1904, was different from any other ever made 
by him. It was a noteworthy effort, and deserves careful 
perusal because of its close analysis of the motives and care- 
ful history of the transactions of the Western Federation 
of Miners. How strong was his love for law and order 
may be understood when it is recalled that, antagonistic as 
Governor Peabody had been to him, he still made an earnest 
appeal for the Governor's re-election because that official 
had exerted himself to hold in check this organization, which, 
with him, Mr. Wolcott believed to be anarchistic. Take a 
specimen or two. Where can more severe denunciation be 
found in four lines than in the following, referring to the 
outrages which he attributed to the Federation ists? 

" They differ, my friends, only from the crimes of the 
Apaches and the Sioux in the early days of Colorado and 
the West, in that the Apaches and the Sioux did not know 
the use of dynamite." 

Or where a better presentation of the point at issue in 
an important campaign than the following? 

It is not a question whether we shall vindicate Governor 
Peabody, because the results have vindicated him. It is a ques- 
tion of whether the majority of the citizens of Colorado will 
to-morrow put upon record a notice to the world that the State 
of Colorado stands for the right to live and the right to labor, 
without which the republican form of government is a sham 
and a degradation. 



CHARACTERISTICS 491 

Mr. Wolcott was especially fond of appealing to young 
voters to align themselves with the Republican party, and 
many of his best sentences were devoted to such appeals. We 
cite two instances, the first from a campaign speech at Colo- 
rado Springs in 1888, just before his first election to the 
Senate, and the second from a campaign speech at Denver 
in 1898, during his second term in the Senate and while 
he was trying to coax the State back into the Republican 
ranks after the split of 1896. In both instances, the appeal 
was used as a peroration to noteworthy speeches. In 1888 
he said: 

For the first time since the close of the Rebellion the men 
born since the war will cast their ballot. Soon the control of 
the affairs of this nation will be turned over to you. It will 
be left in safe hands. It is for you to guard this treasure as 
you would the ark of your covenant. 

" Of what avail the plough or sail, 
Or land or life, if freedom fail?" 

It is for you to choose which party you will serve. On the 
one side you have the party whose past is radiant with achieve- 
ment and whose future is bright with glory, — the party which 
has ever trod the highway of honor, which has nothing to atone 
and nothing to apologize for, — the party whose mission it has 
ever been to lift up the down-trodden and the oppressed of 
every race and plant their feet upon the rock of liberty. On 
the other hand, you have the party which seeks for the present — 
offices, which seeks for the past — oblivion, and which can give us 
no guaranty for the fulfilment of its promises for the future. 

How can you falter? You love your country. Ally your- 
self to the party that saved it. You heard your fathers con- 
fess having voted for Lincoln and for Grant and for Garfield. 
What man did you ever hear confess that he voted for Buchanan 
or for Breckenridge or for Seymour? 

You love your flag. Attach yourself to the party that saved 
its thirty-eight stars. Come out with us, I beg of you, and 
stand in the sunlight and join the party upon whose brow the 
mark of shame was never stamped, whose hands are unsoiled 
with treason and unstained with their country's blood 

And in 1898 : 



492 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

New horizons are opening to us; new duties are devolving 
upon us, and to-day no man may venture to predict the great 
future in store for us. 

It is a glorious time to be alive and it is a noble duty that 
devolves upon every citizen of this free country. It may be, 
my friends, that this is the first year of your vote. Let me 
beg of you to come out into the sunlight of hope and cast your 
fortunes with the party which seeks to strengthen the hands 
of the Administration, to support the Government, and to main- 
tain the honor of the flag wherever it floats. Do not soil your- 
selves by joining a party which stands for no principle; which 
teaches hate and bitterness; whose only hope for success lies 
in creating a disloyal sectionalism and the arraying of class 
against class, and which is even now trying to climb into power 
by slandering the Commander-in-Chief of our Army and our Navy, 
who has guided us so wisely through international breakers and 
who has led us to an honorable peace. 

When you, in your turn, shall look back upon the days of 
your youth, there could be no more bitter memory in store for 
you than that you were then helping to erect a wall of hate to 
divide this commonwealth from the brotherhood of States, and 
that you were seeking only to snarl and to criticise. When the 
heroes of San Juan Hill and the survivors of the Colorado regi- 
ment who led the charge at the battle of Manila, also grown old, 
shall recount their stirring memories by flood and field, how 
would you feel if you recalled the fact that you were then en- 
gaged in throwing mud at somebody, in criticising an Adminis- 
tration which at that time you must at heart have honored, in 
voting with a party which places the question of silver para- 
mount to that of the protection of American labor; paramount 
to that of the maintenance of our cherished institutions; para- 
mount to cordial and friendly relations with our brothers to 
the east of us ; paramount to the great issues which we are now 
facing, and above the honor of the flag? Don't do it, boys. 
Your country needs you. The world is to be made better; the 
shackles have to be struck from the down-trodden and the op- 
pressed the world over. New areas are to be opened to our 
commerce, new duties are devolving upon us, and you, who are 
in the first flush of your manhood, you are needed, never more 
than now, to stand with us in the front ranks in the open day 
to fight while life is in you, that this nation shall bear the 
flaming sword of righteousness wherever we owe that duty to 
civilization and Christianity. 

Come with us; face the truth and the truth shall make vou 



CHARACTERISTICS 493 

free. Hundreds of gallant souls have recently died for our 
country and for the sacred cause of humanity; heroes all, 
whether they fell by Spanish bullets or wasted by cruel disease. 

" On Fame's eternal camping-ground 
Their silent tents are spread, 
And Glory guards with solemn round 
The bivouac of the dead." 

It is for you to make secure what they have won; to pay your 
country the debt you owe her; the debt of chivalrous devotion, 
of high patriotism, and of unquestioning loyalty to your govern- 
ment and your flag. 

We have seen how attached Mr. Wolcott was to his na- 
tive New T England. But, if, on the other hand, we seek 
evidence of his love for and his pride and confidence in 
the West, we soon find a surfeit of material. His speeches 
abound in it, and necessarily only a few specimens can be 
given. Probably no more characteristic expression on this 
subject can be found than in his two addresses before the 
New England Society of New York, delivered ten years 
apart, the first in 1887, and the second in 1897. Between 
those two periods much had happened to him. When he 
made the first speech, he was a private citizen, but a leader ; 
— when he made the second, he was a member of the United 
States Senate, but he had passed through the trying experi- 
ences of 1896, and the political outlook for him was not 
promising. But, notwithstanding the change in conditions, 
the second speech was as buoyant as the first, and on both 
occasions the West was his most inspiring theme. Take the 
following specimen paragraph from the speech of 1887 : 

The West is only a larger, and in some respects, a better, 
New England. I speak not of those rose gardens of culture, Mis- 
souri and Arkansas, but otherwise, generally of the States and 
Territories west of the Mississippi, and more particularly, be- 
cause more advisedly, of Colorado, the youngest and most rugged 
of the thirty-eight; almost as large in area as all New England 
and New York combined ; " with room about her hearth for all 
mankind"; with fertile valleys, and with mines so rich and 
so plentiful that we occasionally, though reluctantly, dispose of 



494 EDWAKD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

one to our New York friends. We have no very rich, no very 
poor, and no almshouses; and in the few localities where we 
are not good enough, New England Home Missionary societies 
are rapidly bringing us up to the Plymouth Rock standard and 
making us face the Heavenly music. We take annually from 
our granite hills wealth enough to pay for the fertilizers your 
Eastern and Southern soils require to save them from impover- 
ishment. We have added three hundred millions to the coinage 
of the world ; and although you call only for gold, we generously 
give you silver too. You are not always inclined to appreciate 
our efforts to swell the circulation, but none the less are we one 
with you in patriotic desire to see the revenues reformed, pro- 
vided always that our own peculiar industries are not affected. 
Our mountains slope toward either sea, and in their shadowy 
depths we find not only hidden wealth, but inspiration and in- 
centive to high thought and noble living, for Freedom has ever 
sought the recesses of the mountains for her stronghold, and 
her spirit hovers there; their snowy summits and the long, roll- 
ing plains are lightened all day long by the sunshine, and we 
are not only Colorado, but Colorado Claro! 

And the following from that of 1897 : 

The West is not decadent; its views are of men virile, in- 
dustrious, and genuine, and their beliefs are honest. They would 
scorn any sort of evasion of an obligation. They are patriotic 
men. There is in the whole Far West hardly a Northerner born 
who was old enough to go to the war whom you will not see 
on Decoration Day wearing proudly the badge of his old corps. 
They are Americans ; to a proportion greater, far greater, than in 
the East, native American citizens. The views they cherish are 
held with practical unanimity. The beliefs of the clergyman, 
the lawyer, the farmer, and the storekeeper are alike. You 
swell their ranks every year from New England colleges. The 
young fellows graduate and go West, grateful that you have 
developed their ability to reason, and they rapidly assimilate 
their views with those of the people among whom they cast 
their lot. A distinguished New Englander wrote the other day 
that the differences between the sections of our country are 
really differences in civilization. No man familiar with the 
whole country would, in my opinion, share this view. Our peo- 
ple would accept the statement as too complimentary to them, 
and, if they thought you cherished the same view, would desire 



CHAKACTERISTICS 495 

me, in courtesy, to assure you that this very assemblage, in 
apparent intelligence and general respectability, would compare 
creditably, if not favorably, with any similar gathering at Creede, 
Bull Mountain, or Cripple Creek. 

There is so much of beauty of expression, so much of 
State loyalty and of hope for the future of the State, so much 
of real eloquence in the closing lines of Mr. Wolcott's last 
speech in Denver, on the night of November 7, 1904, that 
they are repeated. 

He was concluding the speech from which practically he 
went to his death-bed. It was the closing night of the second 
Peabody campaign. Toward the end, he undertook to refute 
the assertions of his own party friends that the defeat of 
Peabody would be a final disaster to the State. This he 
declared would not be true, and after asserting that there 
was a future for the State regardless of the election result, 
he closed in the following language: 

When I think of Colorado I recall the great master Watt's 
picture of Hope, who sits upon a dim and dark and swirling world, 
with her eyes bandaged, with but one star shining in the sky, 
holding a lute in her hands, the strings all broken but one, 
and leaning over to catch from that one string some note of 
melody that shall give her courage to go on. So I say in Colo- 
rado, my friends, there are enough brave and good men to face 
whatever in the Providence of God may be in store for us, until 
the end; to finally make Colorado the home of good men and 
good women, where they may rear their children, and bury their 
dead ; — to make it the home of a decent, a happy, a prosperous, 
and a free people. 

His idea of the duty of citizenship as expressed in a 
speech at Denver, September 17, 1894, is worth quoting 
separately. 

He said: 

Ladies and gentlemen, when this country was organized, when 
this Republic was born, its citizens came together in poverty 
and suffering under oppression. They got together and said: 
" We vow that all we have we will cast into a common lot ; we 
agree that we are each of us entitled to liberty and to freedom, 



496 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

but that it shall be just so much liberty and so much freedom 
as is consistent with the liberty and the freedom of every other 
person." And they met and they agreed that they would give 
their lives, their bodies, their minds, and their hearts to the 
service of their country; they would serve upon juries, they 
would enlist in the armies, they would obey its laws and, 
in obedience to law, their lives if necessary were subject to 
the call of their fellow-citizens. That, my friends, is what 
citizenship in a Republic means; and it does not mean any 
less. 

Already quotation has been made from the Monroe Doc- 
trine speech, in the Senate, on January 22, 1896, but that was 
such a remarkable effort from so many points of view that 
it justifies frequent mention, and certainly this review would 
not be complete without reference to it. Take, then, the 
following, pertaining to the relationship between the United 
States and Great Britain, as a specimen expression, not only 
of patriotism, but of the higher sentiment of brotherly love: 

Mr. President, we will protect our country and our country's 
interests with our lives, but we wage no wars of conquest or of 
hate. This Republic stands facing the dawn, secure in its 
liberties, conscious of its high destiny. Wherever in all the 
world the hand of the oppressed or the down-trodden is reached 
out to us, we meet it in friendly clasp. In the Old World, where 
unspeakable crimes even now darken the skies ; in the Orient, 
where old dynasties have been crumbling for a thousand years 
and still hang together in the accumulation of infamies ; in South 
America, where as yet the forms of free institutions hold only 
the spirit of cruelty and oppression ; everywhere upon the earth 
it is our mission to ameliorate, to civilize, to Christianize, to 
loosen the bonds of captivity, and to point the souls of men 
to nobler heights. Whatever of advancement and of progress 
the centuries shall bring us must largely come through the 
spread of the religion of Christ and the dominance of the Eng- 
lish-speaking peoples ; and wherever you find both you find com- 
munities where freedom exists and law is obeyed. Blood is 
thicker than water, and until some just quarrel divides us, which 
Heaven forbid, may these two great nations of the same speech 
and lineage and traditions stand as brothers, shoulder to 
shoulder, in the interest of humanity, by their union compelling 
peace and awaiting the coming of the day when, " Nation shall 



CHARACTERISTICS 497 

not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war 
any more." 

Even on the usually dry subject of the relations of silver 
to gold as a money metal, he could grow eloquent and pa- 
thetic, as witness the appeal to the Democrats in his speech 
in the Senate on August 31, 1893, while the Repeal Bill was 
under consideration. Predicting disaster as the result of 
that proposed legislation, he said : 

No sectional horizon obscures our vision. If the contest for 
the people is to be won, it must be because against the selfish 
demands of the East are arrayed the united votes of the South 
and West. The fertile acres of your section wait for the plough 
of the husbandman ; so do ours. You need capital for the de- 
velopment of your great resources; so do we. Both sections 
alike need fair prices for the produce of the farm, and a stable 
and sufficient currency. 

It is for us, standing together on this great question, to 
save our common country from greater suffering and impover- 
ishment than even the horrors of war could inflict; and by our 
united votes to maintain, not alone the standard of both gold 
and silver contemplated by the Constitution, and consecrated by 
centuries of usage, but to maintain, as well, the standard of 
American independence and American manhood. 

Another specimen of his power of speech and of appeal 
in connection with the silver legislation is found in his 
speech of October 28, 1893, just before the taking of the 
vote on the Repeal Bill, when, conceding that the bill would 
be passed, he said in concluding a very brilliant effort: 

I know my own people, and I know, as no other member of 
this Senate except my colleague can know, the import and mean- 
ing to Colorado of the vote which shall be had upon this meas- 
ure. We came into the Union of States in the centennial year, 
and in the galaxy of commonwealths we are usually known as 
the Centennial State. We were fitted for Statehood by popula- 
tion and resources. Our people came from all the States in the 
Union; they found a desert; they have made it a garden. They 
were encouraged to search for the precious metals, and they 
poured millions of gold and silver into your treasury. They 



498 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

built cities, founded schools and colleges, erected churches, and 
established happy and peaceful and contented homes. 

The action you contemplate is as if you should take a vast 
and fertile area of Eastern land, destroy the structures upon it, 
and sow the ground with salt, that it might never again yield 
to the hand of the husbandman. These are indeed grave and 
sad days for us. Your action drives our miners from their 
homes in the mountains and compels the abandonment of ham- 
lets and of towns that but yesterday were prosperous and popu- 
lous. We shall turn our hands to new pursuits and seek other 
means of livelihood. We shall not eat the bread of idleness, and 
under the shadow of our eternal hills we breed only good citi- 
zens. The wrong, however, which you are inflicting upon us 
is cruel and unworthy, and the memory of it will return to 
vex you. Out of the misery of it all, her representatives in 
this Senate will be always glad to remember that they did their 
duty as God gave them the vision to see it. 

Here is another expression of lofty and patriotic thought 
in connection with a silver speech, that made in the Senate 
on April 6, 1892, which is worthy of being separated from its 
surroundings that it may be admired for its own beauty : 

It is a mistake for the representatives of one section to seek 
financial aggrandizement at the expense of any other. We have 
a common interest, a common country, and should share a com- 
mon prosperity. The music of the looms in New England, the 
song of the field-hand on the cotton plantation, the echo of the 
woodman's axe in Oregon, and the ring of the prospector's pick 
on the granite of the Western mountains, all blend in one melo- 
dious harmony, and tell the same story of the energy of free 
men who conquer success because in this country industry and 
hope are companions. The uniting of all these interests so that 
no one shall suffer because of the other and so that each shall 
benefit and bless the other is a mission more glorious than one 
of conquest — is the noblest task that could be imposed upon 
man by his brother man. 

Of all Mr. Wolcott's public addresses, none received more 
careful thought in subject-matter or diction than that de- 
livered as Temporary Chairman of the National Convention 
at Philadelphia in 1900, when Major McKinley was re- 
nominated for the Presidency, and it was conceded a master- 



CHARACTERISTICS 499 

piece by all who heard or who read it. It was an exhaustive 
and calm review of the first McKinley Administration, with 
especial reference to the conduct of the Spanish-American 
War, which had been brought to so brilliant a close only 
a little more than two years before. He was especially 
chosen by McKinley for this service, and the speech was 
regarded everywhere as a model campaign keynote. 

Let a discriminating admirer who was present give his 
impressions of the event. 

It was my good fortune to be in the Philadelphia Conven- 
tion [he says]. In that convention were many great orators. 
Roosevelt, Foraker, Thurston, Knight of California, Depew, 
Lodge, and many others spoke, but Wolcott made the speech 
of the convention. His speech had all the argument, the beauty 
of diction, the scholarly and rhetorical effect of that of Lodge, 
and in addition it had a brilliance and fervor which compelled 
attention and enthusiasm. He had a commanding presence and 
possessed in a high degree that peculiar quality best called 
" magnetism." When he reached a climax every one cheered be- 
cause he could not help it. I never shall forget this dramatic 
period, delivered with wonderful feeling and force at the close 
of his brilliant argument on the Philippine question : 

" Our dead are buried along the sands of Luzon, and on its 
soil no foreign flag shall ever salute the dawn." 

Mr. Wolcott's speech in nomination of Mr. Blaine at the 
Republican National Convention of 1892 made a deep and 
lasting impression upon many who never had heard him 
before. It was not known that this duty was to come to 
him, and his taking the floor was a surprise to the audi- 
ence. It is the custom at National Conventions to call the 
States in alphabetical order for nominations, and Mr. Wol- 
cott was fortunate in that Colorado came so early on the 
list. Alabama, Arkansas, and California had been named, 
but had made no response. When Colorado was reached, and 
Senator Wolcott addressed the Chair, a hush fell over the 
assembly. Taking advantage of the impression thus pro- 
duced, he did not leave his hearers to wonder whom he was 
to present, but brought forward the name of his candidate 
with startling effect in his opening words: 

" The Republicans of the West sometimes differ with the 



500 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Republicans of the East as to what is wanted. On this 
occasion there is remarkable unanimity between genuine 
Republicans of the West and genuine Republicans of the 
East as to who is needed, and his name is Blaine." 

Then followed in choice epigrammatic phrase an enumera- 
tion of Mr. Blaine's achievements and a chivalrous expres- 
sion of the devotion of his followers, the whole being compact 
but comprehensive and inspiring. The speaker was taking 
his seat five minutes from the time that he began. 

On a later occasion, when Mr. Blaine had passed away, 
Wolcott paid a feeling tribute to his memory, the following 
being one of many passages which might be adduced to show 
how fittingly he could speak of the worthy dead. It is an 
extract from his Lincoln Day speech at the dinner of the 
New York Republican Club in 1893, Mr. Blaine's death 
having occurred but a short time before. He said : 

And so, my friends, we pledge each other to the memory of 
our departed leader. Brave, sincere, patriotic, gallant, mag- 
nanimous, and intrepid, rarely since men have been born has so 
lovable and true a soul, a " fairer spirit or more welcome shade " 
been ferried over the river. The world is better because he was 
of it; we are better for the inspiration of his presence and 
the stimulus of his example. He will shine for us, and for 
those who come after us, as " the star of the unconquered will." 
When the rancors and political animosities of this generation 
shall have passed away, patriotic men of all parties will pay 
their full tribute of respect and admiration to the memory of 
James Gillespie Blaine. 

Sensational journalism received much attention from him 
in his Colorado campaign speeches, and occasionally was 
referred to in his general addresses. In his second New 
England Day oration in New York, he addressed himself to 
that subject in a few sentences that are almost classic in 
their force, terseness, and cleverness. He said: 

The continued friction is largely generated both East and 
West by a certain modern type of newspaper. The plague may 
have started here, but it has spread and sprouted like the 
Canada thistle until it is a blight in Colorado, as it is a curse 
here and wherever it plants itself. Wherever there is a cause 



CHARACTERISTICS 501 

to misrepresent, a hate to be fanned, a slander to utter, a repu- 
tation to besmirch, it exhales its foul breath. It knows no 
party, no honor, and no virtue. It stirs only strife and hatred, 
and appeals only to the low and the base. It calls itself journal- 
ism, but its name is Pander and its color is yellow. 

COURSE IN LEGISLATION 

Aggressive and radical though he was in speech, Mr. Wol- 
cott was conservative in action. Especially was this true 
in matters of importance affecting the interests of others. 
In legislation, his tendency was quite as much toward pre- 
venting wrong action as toward promoting right action. 
He was inclined to think that there was too much law- 
making, and no man was quicker to detect the flaw in a 
proposed course of legislation. 

The critical student of Mr. Wolcott's Senatorial career 
may point out that he was not " constructive." The " con- 
structive statesman " is the man who outlines policies in 
laws written by himself. It must be admitted that the 
Colorado Senator gave comparatively little attention to the 
drafting of bills. Many reasons may be assigned for this 
failure. Most legislative policies are dictated either by the 
Administration or by the Elder Statesmen, " the white- 
buttoned Mandarins of the Senate and House," as they have 
been called by a Western Senator of a later time than Mr. 
Wolcott's. Policies belong to crises, and comparatively few 
real crises occur in the course of two Senatorial terms. 

During Mr. Wolcott's twelve years in the Senate there 
were scarcely more than half a dozen occurrences demand- 
ing the broad exercise of this faculty. The most important 
of these were the Venezuelan embroglio, the situation caused 
by the pendency of the Force Bill; the fight for silver, na- 
tional and international; and the Spanish-American War. 
All these questions except the war had their origin anterior 
to Mr. Wolcott's entrance into the Senate, and while he 
could have done nothing and really did nothing by way of 
constructiveness in connection with the Force Bill or the 
Venezuelan matter, he did play an effective part in bringing 
to naught the policies out of which these questions arose. 
If it be objected that it is easier to tear down than to build 



502 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

up, it may be replied that this is not necessarily true when 
the Administration is behind the policy, as was the case in 
both these instances. If it requires ability to construct, it 
requires courage to demolish — and frequently also tact and 
skill. Often, too, as much patriotism and wisdom are dis- 
played in demolition as in construction; prevention of poor 
legislation is as essential to good government as the enact- 
ment of good legislation. 

Much fine generalship was displayed in the attack on 
the Venezuelan policy of President Cleveland and in the 
fight on the Force Bill of the Harrison regime. In the strict 
sense of the term, there was no " constructive " legislation 
in either case. But the Wolcott speech on Venezuela ex- 
ercised a vast influence in preventing a growth of sentiment 
against the Mother Country and was the beginning of a 
reaction favorable to that country, which has gained mo- 
mentum from the day the address was delivered until the 
present time. So potent indeed was its influence that four- 
teen years after its delivery an Anglo-American League was 
started to perpetuate the Colorado man's ideas of unity be- 
tween the United States and Great Britain. So also with 
the Force Bill. Mr. Wolcott's convictions would not have 
permitted him to become the author of that measure, but 
they did impel him to become its destroyer, and thus again 
he aided, though by a negative course, in establishing a 
policy. 

Judged by these two measures, Mr. Wolcott's faculty 
lay in the line of destructiveness or obstructiveness rather 
than in that of constructiveness, but neither his destructive- 
ness nor obstructiveness was the result of thoughtless reck- 
lessness. In these, as in other matters, he did much in the 
way of forming policies and changing thought, but he did 
not find it necessary to write long and platitudinous laws 
to accomplish these results. It is possible to shape policies 
by presenting legislation, and Mr. Wolcott was a master in 
this art. He believed in natural development unobstructed 
by artificial means. 

The silver legislation was well under way when he en- 
tered the Senate. At best it was largely defensive in char- 
acter, but in connection with it he suggested many useful 



CHARACTERISTICS 503 

ideas; he was the father of the International Commission 
of 1897. In the Spanish War he stood with the Administra- 
tion throughout, and while from first to last his advice was 
sought, the shaping of bills and resolutions was left largely 
to the Executive officials and to the committees having in 
hand the various subjects which the War made it necessary 
for Congress to consider. Three tariff bills were enacted 
into law while he was in the Senate, but under the Consti- 
tution tariff bills must originate in the House, and all three 
were prepared there. 

Confessedly Mr. Wolcott did not enjoy detail, but that 
he could originate legislation was shown not only in his 
silver measures, but in his Private Land Court Bill and 
other general measures introduced by him; and there is 
every reason to believe that if he had been permitted to 
" grow gray " in the Senate he would have performed his 
share of this character of work. Still, his conservatism 
would have prevented any riot of legislative suggestion. He 
did not believe in experimental laws. 

But Mr. Wolcott never could have served long enough to 
take on the airs of a "statesman." Never a poser, he abhorred 
all pretence and assumed no position to which his talents 
and achievements did not entitle him. He was in no respect 
a professional office-holder. His ambition was to be a prac- 
tical lawmaker and a useful legislator, and whatever service 
fell within the requirements of these offices he was willing 
to perform. He could draw bills and outline policies when 
necessary, but, as a rule, his forte lay rather in the direction 
of shaping up the measures drawn by others and in assisting 
in getting them through if they appealed to him. In a word, 
he regarded legislation as a matter of business, and while 
he enjoyed the life in the Senate, he never allowed himself 
to assume the airs and take on the attitudes of many men 
who wear the Senatorial toga. On the other hand, he appre- 
ciated the fact that he was capable of rendering more service 
than he had given to the Senatorship, and a few months be- 
fore his death he told some of his friends that if ever he 
should return to the Senate he meant to take up the work 
more seriously than hitherto he had done. With that re- 



504 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

solve and with his abilities still undiminished, he undoubt- 
edly would have given the country much splendid service 
even though he did not pose as a " statesman " or seek to 
connect his name with statutes. 



AS A POLITICIAN 

FROM 1886, when he began to lay his plans to go to the 
Senate, until 1905, the time of his death, Mr. Wolcott 
was the actual and active leader of the Republican 
party in Colorado, and in that time there were few who 
disputed his right to the place. During the first half of the 
period Senator Teller held high rank as a party adviser; 
but he did not aspire to active command of the party forces, 
and was quite content to leave that service to his co-worker, 
who was younger and more willing to assume the duties and 
responsibilities of the position. After Mr. Teller left the 
party in 1896, there was a considerable period when the 
junior Senator was the sole dispenser of party patronage 
and the supreme dictator of party policy in the State. For 
a brief period after the party began to regain its standing, 
following the disastrous campaigns of 1896, 1898, and 1900, 
there were efforts by ambitious men within the Republican 
ranks to displace him, and while these efforts had the effect 
of preventing his return to the Senate, his position of leader- 
ship was disturbed only momentarily, and before his death 
he had regained complete control. 

Necessarily, a large part of this book is a record of Mr. 
Wolcott's political career, and there is no intention even to 
summarize that portion of his life here. There are, how- 
ever, some facts connected with it that can be better pre- 
sented in a detached way than as a part of the regular 
narrative, and it has been thought worth while to emphasize 
some of the qualities to which he owed his success in the 
political arena. 

From the beginning of its history, Colorado has been a 
505 



506 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

State of politicians. At the head of the old-time list stood 
Jerome B. Chaffee, who rose to the distinction not only of 
a seat in the Senate of the United States, but to that of 
the head of the Executive Committee of the Republican Na- 
tional Committee during the Blaine campaign in 1884. He 
was ably flanked by Henry M. Teller, who, while not so 
demonstrative, was still more successful; by John Evans, 
N. P. Hill, Thomas M. Bowen, John L. Routt, and William 
A. Hamill, on the Republican side, and by W. A. H. Love- 
land, Bela M. Hughes, Thomas M. Patterson, Charles S. 
Thomas, and Alva Adams, Democrats. A history of these 
men would be a history of Colorado from early Territorial 
days until the present time. All were able and astute, and 
each might have been a leader in any field. But none of 
them embodied such a virile and happy combination of the 
qualities of mind and heart that make for a leader as did 
Edward O. Wolcott. Some of them may have been stronger 
in certain lines than he, but none possessed so many of the 
qualifications necessary to success in conducting the affairs 
of a great party. These were equal to the task of keeping 
him in the forefront of Colorado political affairs for a quarter 
of a century. For much of that time he was not alone the 
leader of the Republican party in the State; he was the 
party " boss," if you will. He made and unmade men. 
He controlled the Federal appointments and selected most 
of the candidates for State offices. The National Committee- 
men, and a majority of the State Committeemen, also, were 
generally designated by him. 

That Mr. Wolcott won this distinction by sheer force of 
ability the facts bear ample testimony. He had powerful 
friends, to be sure. But whence those friends? He did not 
have any in the beginning. They came to him as the result 
in part of his engaging personality; but there must have 
been more than mere address to bring to his aid such men 
as at first " boosted " and afterward followed him. From 
the first there was more than mere amiability in the man, 
and he scarcely had passed from boyhood before his sub- 
stantial characteristics began to make themselves manifest. 
He never was a dead weight to his friends; he was a real 
assistance in any cause which he espoused. He soon de- 



CHARACTERISTICS 507 

veloped such qualities that his services as an adviser and 
then as a director were in demand, and, once tested, whether 
in business or politics, they were not soon dispensed with. 
The qualities which gave him the place of leadership were 
born in him, and their manifestation waited only upon op- 
portunity. And what were these qualities? His personal 
friend and political co-worker, Hon. A. M. Stevenson, of 
Denver, has been asked to answer this question, and he has 
done so briefly in the following paragraph : 

As a party leader, Wolcott was the Sheridan of party poli- 
tics. He was always aggressive and never on the defensive, but 
with it all he was not a narrow partisan. He was controlled by 
the courage of his convictions, and neither party declarations 
nor the will of the majority could make him abandon what he 
considered a just position. His aggressiveness was as bold and 
attractive when leading a forlorn hope as when directing the 
movements of a majority. He always fought in the open. His 
weakness as a party leader was his strength as a man. He de- 
spised shams and hypocrisy. He was wise in counsel and so 
quick that he comprehended in a moment the most complex 
situations. It was often difficult to follow his active brain, and 
this sometimes made him impatient with friends, but he was 
deeply grieved when he saw he had offended. He was liberal, 
often lavish, with his money for every possible legitimate ex- 
pense of the campaign. He knew human nature well and under- 
stood that most men were affected by this environment or that 
influence, and he used his knowledge for success. There was 
nothing he despised or denounced more than the use of money 
for corrupt purposes, and it was hard to make him believe that 
men would sell themselves for gold. 

Probably one of the most accurate as well as one of the 
most appreciative analyses ever made of Mr. Wolcott's char- 
acter as a man and as a politician was written by his politi- 
cal and personal friend, Ottomar H. Rothacker, in 1885, 
before Wolcott had entered the Senate — indeed, before he 
was regarded as a candidate for a seat in that body, and 
it was the means of calling out an equally appreciative 
letter of criticism from Dr. Wolcott, father of the subject 
of it all. 

Rothacker was himself one of the most brilliant young 



508 EDWAKD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

men of early Colorado. A Kentuckian by rearing, if not 
by birth, he went to Colorado soon after the admission of 
the State into the Union. He became editor of the Denver 
Tribune, and it was most natural that he and Wolcott should 
be attracted to each other. They became very intimate. 
Later the Hill faction came into control of the Tribune, 
and the direction of the policy of the paper was entrusted 
largely to Wolcott. Wolcott and Rothacker were in perfect 
harmony in the management of the sheet, and the latter re- 
mained with it until 1884, when he removed to Washington 
and became correspondent there for the Denver "News. It 
was in this latter capacity that he wrote the Wolcott article. 
His letter was dated October 6, 1885, and was based upon 
the assumption that Wolcott would be a candidate for Rep- 
resentative in the lower House of Congress in 1886, to succeed 
Judge Synies. 

The letter began abruptly with a declaration of confidence 
in Wolcott's strength. " I think," said Mr. Rothacker, " that 
Wolcott is the ablest man in Colorado politics," and he then 
proceeded : 

I don't mean by this that he is the ablest politician. His 
disposition is the mortal enemy of expediency. I mean that he 
has more striking qualities than any man who has puttered in 
the science of office-holding in the State. In many respects he 
reminds one of Matt Carpenter. In one point the resemblance 
is particularly striking. Every one used to speak of the Senator 
as " Matt." When they spoke to him they said Mr. Carpenter. 

In CoDgress Ed Wolcott would be the most striking Repub- 
lican from the West. He has more ability than any man now 
on the floor of the House. He would create there much the 
same kind of effect that Blaine did when his effective person- 
ality first began to get recognition. He would make more ene- 
mies however. He can be sugar one day and vitriol the next. 
He would attract attention from the very first and become a 
national figure, but bitter enmities would be blended with warm 
friendships. He has a singular capacity in handling men. He 
has also a fatal facility for driving them away from him. He 
has the political weakness for discrediting his best friends and 
of crediting his meanest foes. This blindness all politicians 
seem to be afflicted with. The best of them are not free from it. 

In the main, however, Wolcott is as good as any of them, and 



CHARACTERISTICS 509 

his memory for service is quite as long. Beyond the lower traits 
of office-getting he has some which are very exceptional. He is 
a man with a very quick intellect. He has a ready instinct for 
the broader phases of public questions which are comprised in 
statesmanship. His impulses are all toward the upper plane. 
His normal judgment is a high and correct one. On any national 
question he is pretty sure to be with the best thought of the 
country. On any question of local supremacy he will not hesi- 
tate to use the worst. In politics he is decidely practical. 

When Campbell was nominated in the convention of 1882, 
Wolcott, as everybody knows, bolted the nomination. Never 
was a bolt better based. The nomination was forced through 
against party sentiment and party expediency. It was gro- 
tesque in its absurdity. At no time was it at all certain that 
Campbell was even a Republican. Assuredly he had never 
held any position in the party that justified his nomination. It 
has been claimed that because Wolcott was a member of the 
convention he should have supported the nominee. The char- 
acter of the nominee was a sufficient release from any pledge. 
It has been said that because Hamill and he made Chaffee chair- 
man they should have upheld him. The nomination of Chaffee 
as chairman was a broad joke. Hamill, who did support the 
ticket, said of this : " Chaffee steered the cart into the mud ; let 
him drag it out again." The bolt from Campbell was justified 
by the action of the majority of the Republican voters of the 
State. 

I was led to this digression by a recollection that just be- 
fore I left the State I heard several able Republicans suggest 
that " Ed Wolcott ought to make himself right with the party." 
My dear deluded friends did not know him. It can be 
better put by saying that the party will have to make itself 
right with Ed Wolcott. He is rather an imperious person in 
his way. During the last Presidential campaign it took some 
urging to get him on the stump, and there was considerable 
rejoicing at the Republican State Headquarters when this was 
accomplished. The truth is that Wolcott can get along without 
his party better than his party can get along without him. He 
does n't need it for a living, and one of these days it may need 
him. 

The plain fact runs that Ed Wolcott has many of the un- 
usual attributes which belong in the make-up of a national 
politician. He even has some instincts of statesmanship, and I 
use the word in its most conservative sense. He has absolute 



510 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

genius as an orator. His organizing ability is far beyond the 
ordinary. His mind is marvellously alert. His capacity for 
absorbing judgment — if such a paradox be allowable — is of the 
broadest sort. He could never be a commonplace figure in Wash- 
ington. Indeed it would not astonish one if a first experience 
there should put him in a position of unusual prominence. He 
would bear much the same relation to the Rocky Mountain 
country that Conkling does to New York, that Carpenter did 
to Wisconsin, that Morton did to Indiana, that Blackburn does 
to Kentucky. The dead level of the present House would only 
be a pedestal for him. He would rise above it from the very 
start. He would be a vastly bigger man in Congress than he 
has ever been in any Colorado political convention. The atmos- 
phere would be more natural to him, and he would breathe more 
freely. It would be like jumping from Sophomore to Senior, and 
he would be quite at home at once. He would have the great 
advantage of representing a strong and growing section, and this 
is a powerful foundation for any politician young in national 
history. 

If he really means to strive for a place in the larger arena 
of national politics it will be easy enough. All he will have to 
do will be to recognize some of the people whom he has not 
been in the habit of recognizing, to appreciate disinterested sup- 
port at its real worth, and forget that he was born with a chip 
on his shoulder. 

The father's letter which the Rothacker article called out 
probably was the last of the many addressed by him to his son 
in their long and intimate relationship. He then was suf- 
fering from the illness which a few months later terminated 
fatally, and the letter was dictated. It was, however, signed 
by its author, although in faltering hand. It ran : 

Lexington, Mass., Oct. 22, '85. 

The occasion of this letter is the Denver News of the 11th 
instant, sent me by Mr. Vaille who is now in New York, at 
Henry's request. Rothacker's article is written with admiration 
and an evident desire to aid you. It is the more valuable for 
its criticisms. I have little doubt that politics is your des- 
tination, and wish in this connection to offer a suggestion or 
two, kindly, but frankly and plainly. 

1. Do not needlessly alienate your friends. " One day sugar, 
the next day vitriol," is, I fear, a true indictment, and there is 



V^X-1-XiXkXi.VJ JL JJJJ.VJ.k3_L AV_/»0 



no excuse for it It is not principle that leads you to offend 
your friends, but your grim humor, your caustic mood, and for 
this there is no apology. 

You have no right to wound unnecessarily the feelings of any 
one, and you make a radical mistake, my son, when you thus 
exasperate your friends. Consider whether the remark which 
you are tempted to make or your brusque manner will injure 
the feelings of any one, and if it will, by all means refrain 
from the infliction. In this respect as in others you have only 
to carry out the Golden Rule. If you hurt inadvertently, do 
not hesitate to offer an apology. There is no humiliation in 
acknowledging a mistake. Begin, if you please, by a letter to 
Rothacker, thanking him for the handsome terms in which he 
has spoken of you, and telling him that you will endeavor to 
profit by his criticisms. One who can make friends and keep 
them as easily as you can should be on his guard against alienat- 
ing and losing them in this way. 

2. Be imbued with the moral sentiment in all your acts. 
Rothacker says in substance that in national questions you are 
influenced by the best considerations, and in local matters by 
the worst. I want you to be equally scrupulous on all questions. 
Carry the ethical principle into all. Never appeal to men's 
prejudices, but only to their reason and conscience. Recognize 
fully the moral features of every issue, and advocate and pursue 
the course which you think is right in God's sight. I deem this 
the very first quality of true statesmanship. 

Mr. Wolcott possessed the rare combination of astute- 
ness, courage, and confidence. He was resourceful to an 
unusual degree, and daring almost to the point of audacity. 
His political foresight, or perhaps intuition, especially in 
State elections, was marvellous. In gauging sentiment, 
estimating party strength, discounting local issues, and 
measuring the volume and direction of the diverse currents 
of Colorado politics, he was invariably correct; and, sus- 
tained by perennial hope and unfaltering loyalty to a cause 
which he believed to be just, he fought one campaign after 
another, and always with zeal and vigor. In all things he 
was a man of system, and he made thorough preparation 
for his contests. He had lieutenants in all parts of the 
State, and he held them to him as with bands of steel. 
No man knew the State better than he. All portions of it 



512 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

were familiar to him, and he knew the character of people 
with whom he had to deal in each county. He was ac- 
quainted with the local leaders, and generally understood in 
advance who would be for him and who against him. He 
knew the kind of influence to use, knew what would " catch " 
this man and what would influence the other. When a cam- 
paign was on he " went after " men in any legitimate way, 
and he often was able to bring to bear influences which were 
unknown even to the men whom he sought to reach. 

If funds were necessary in the preparation of the cam- 
paign, to get out votes, or for the general conduct of the 
business of the contest, he used them. No corrupter of pri- 
vate virtue, Mr. Wolcott did not hesitate to use his means 
in a proper way to promote his own interests or the interests 
of his friends or of his party in the conduct of a campaign. 
In order to understand his course in the use of money, it 
is necessary to look at the subject from his standpoint. He 
went into politics as he would have gone into a battle. A 
battle implies war, and war means bloodshed. He knew that, 
metaphorically speaking, his enemy was trying to kill him 
and was liable to do so if he did not kill the enemy. He 
knew that the " other fellow " was paying for printing, for 
halls, for speakers, and for the time given to his cause by 
his supporters. If therefore he employed money in a cam- 
paign he used it as a weapon of warfare. But if he bought, 
he never sold. His allegiance once given to cause or man, 
he never faltered, although certain defeat stared him in the 
face. Self-reliant, courageous, and well-informed, he went 
into each conflict weighing well the conditions and always 
determined to win if possible. But, whether to win or lose, 
he was " there to stay." 

No better fighter ever engaged in the political battle than 
this same Ed Wolcott. With him politics was a game, 
and he played no game that he did not play to win. He 
fought desperately, and he did not often surrender will- 
ingly. When, however, the inevitable was forced upon 
him, and he found himself without resource, he retired 
gracefully. Under such circumstances his retirement was 
only temporary, for no sooner had he been beaten in one 
contest than he began to prepare for another. 



CHARACTERISTICS 513 

It has been asserted that Senator Wolcott was not a 
good judge of men. His tolerance and forbearance lent 
some weight to the statement, but in fact he was rarely, if 
ever, wholly deceived. Time and again, after an interview 
with this man or that, who protested his interest and loyalty, 
he remarked : " He is not with us," or " He is against us," 
or again, " Poor chap, he would like to be with us, but he 
can't " ; and sooner or later the accuracy of his judgment 
was manifest. 

He would read a man at first sight as completely as if he 
had made him [said Henry Brady, Mr. Wolcott's right-hand in 
Denver politics]. Many a time I have picked up some fellow 
for use in the campaign and asked the Senator if I might bring 
him to see him. Two to one he would know the man, and if 
he did he would either say " Put him to work," or " We don't 
want him ; he 's no good." If he did n't know the fellow, he 
probably would ask me to bring him to see him; and when I 
took him he would size him up in a minute or two. If his 
judgment was adverse he often would yield. " You can try 
him," he would say, "but you'll find he'll fall down on you," 
or " he '11 betray you," or " he '11 prove worthless." And it al- 
ways was as he predicted it would be. It was the same way in 
selecting candidates; he warned us against several men whom 
we insisted upon nominating, and we always found after a 
while that we would have done more wisely if we had heeded 
his warnings. But he was loyal when a candidate was agreed 
upon, and he gave his earnest support even though he did not 
believe in the man. Why [added Mr. Brady], he could read 
a letter from a man he had never seen and tell you all about 
him. 

The reason for his successful predictions lay in his deep 
knowledge of human nature. He knew that most men had 
their weak points, and his familiarity with conditions 
throughout the State was so great that he could foresee 
where this or that supporter might be attacked and won over 
to the opposition. He knew, also, that he antagonized some 
temperaments, and he appreciated that in time such aversion 
would bear fruit. 

Still, with all these qualities, he was not a perfect leader. 
At times he lacked caution, and he was not always mindful 



514 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

of popular sentiment. Nor was he at all times amenable 
to party discipline. His faults were the faults of impetu- 
osity, of self-will, of determination to bring things out his 
way. He did not compromise. On at least one occasion he 
bolted the ticket of his party. That occurred in 1882 when 
his brother failed to obtain the gubernatorial nomination. 
The provocation was great, but it was a tactical mistake, 
and a man of less genius could not have forced his own 
nomination to the highest office in the gift of the State so 
soon afterward as did Mr. Wolcott. 

The truth is that he was mentally superior to most men. 
In that fact lay the secret of his success. He could be for- 
given more in politics than any one else, because, while all 
knew his failings, all recognized his transcendent ability, his 
innate integrity, and his high ideals. Colorado was proud of 
his brilliant qualities, and was pleased to have him represent 
her in the Senate even though he was somewhat erratic in 
politics. He was a favorite son, " a spoilt child," if yon 
will, and forgiveness was granted him almost before he 
asked. 

A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION 

Earl M. Cranston, for many years United States District 
Attorney for the District of Colorado, relates a series of 
experiences with Mr. Wolcott which splendidly illustrate 
the characteristics of the Colorado Senator as a political 
worker and leader. The first of these portrays his man- 
ner of " going after " what he wanted and of beating down 
opposition when he could do so. The second shows how he 
could be touched by a frank appeal and how, his resent- 
ment giving place to generosity, he could be gracious and 
magnanimous in the face of antagonism when convinced of 
its honesty of motive. The third, a fitting sequel, brings 
reward for his magnanimity. It should be stated that be- 
cause of his fear of being misunderstood Mr. Cranston sup- 
plied the incidents only in response to urgent solicitation. 
Here is the narrative: 

In the campaign preceding the first election of Mr. Wol- 
cott to the United States Senate, it became desirable for 
him to have as mayor of Denver, a man who should favor 



CHARACTERISTICS 515 

his candidacy. Mr. Wolcott lived in the old Second Ward 
of Denver, where Cranston had grown up and where he 
then was making his first entrance into politics. In a 
general way he knew that Wolcott was a candidate for 
the Senate, but he did not know that he had any particular 
candidate for mayor. Xor had the importance of the city 
convention to him ever suggested itself to the young man's 
inexperience. The ward delegation consisted of twenty mem- 
bers, of whom Wolcott and Cranston were two. with Wolcott 
as chairman. 

The evening before the convention the delegation met in 
Cranston's office for a caucus, and there, for the first time, he 
learned that the mayoralty candidate to whom he had pledged 
his utmost efforts in the convention was not Mr. Wolcott's 
candidate, but that, on the contrary, he favored a different 
man. Cranston was able, however, to hold through all the 
ballots about a quarter of the delegation for his candidate 
as against Wolcott's. 

Although Cranston had said and done nothing in his pres- 
ence to indicate his preference. Mr. Wolcott, with that light- 
ning intelligence which always characterized him. knew where 
the trouble lay. and called his antagonist into a back room 
alone. " There." says Mr. Cranston, " with his hands in 
his pockets, walking up and down with the stride we all 
knew so well, and tossing his head from side to side in 
the manner peculiar to himself, he began to talk." 

•• I want you to understand that this nonsense must 
cease." he said abruptly and savagely. 

•• Why. Mr. Wolcott," protested Cranston in astonish- 
ment, " I don't know what you mean." 

The conversation proceeded: 

" You can't deceive me. sir : don't deny that you are voting 
for on this secret ballot." 

- Why. certainly. Mr. Wolcott. I am voting for him." re- 
plied Cranston, surprised at the suggestion of attempted 
deception on his part. 

•• More than that. sir. five of your friends are voting for 
him simply because you tell them to do so. and will stay 
with him as long as you say. and you needn't deny that 
either," persisted Wolcott. 



516 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

The response was another confession. Declaring that 
he did not understand what was meant about " denial " and 
" concealment," Cranston said : " Of course, my friends whom 

[ can influence are voting for , and I hope you are 

right in saying that they will continue as long as I ask them 
to do so." 

Wolcott's reply was a demand for the entire delegation. 
It must, he said, be perfectly apparent by that time who his 
candidate was. " I promised him the support of this, my 
home ward, and I am entitled to it," he said, and added: 
" It is very necessary for me to deliver this support, and 
you are holding out a quarter of it against me. You must 
come over right now." 

But Mr. Cranston did not yield. " I am very sorry," he 
said, " but I can't do it, and I wish you would please listen 
while I tell you why." 

The Senatorial aspirant was not in a listening mood. 
" I don't care to hear you," he said ; " it is enough to know 
that you refuse." Then he delivered an ultimatum, saying: 
" You might just as well move out of Colorado, because you 
will never get a thing in this State as long as you stay 
here. I will make it my business to see that you don't, 
and every time you poke your head through the fence, I 
am going to hit it." 

Crushing as was this threat, Cranston was not subdued. 
Without feeling on his part and making due allowance for 
Mr. Wolcott's interest and excitement, he persisted in being 
heard. He said: 

" Very well, Mr. Wolcott, you are the most powerful man 
in the State, and I am just beginning business life, so that 
I suppose you have the strength to do as you say; but be- 
fore you finally decide, I mean to tell you why it is im- 
possible for me to comply with your request. Then, if you 
still have the determination you have just expressed, I will 
have to stand it. Six months ago, not knowing, in my in- 
experience, that you would have any interest in this cam- 
paign for mayor, I promised to deliver all the votes I could 

in the Second Ward, to . I have repeated that promise 

since. Such an agreement to me seems as binding as a 
promissory note or any business undertaking which a man 



CHARACTERISTICS 517 

may enter into. You are right in saying that I can deliver 
the six votes, and I can hold them against anybody, through 
the entire convention. Now, if, knowing that I could do 
this, after having made such a promise, I should surrender 
them at anybody's dictation, I never would respect myself 
and my friends would never respect me. Furthermore, if 
ever in the future I should make you a promise about any- 
thing, you wouldn't place an atom of reliance upon it, 
because you would know that I was not a dependable 
man, and one of these days, Mr. Wolcott, you may be the 
man to whom I will make a promise; I can't go back on 
my word." 

The plea captured Wolcott. It scarcely had been con- 
cluded " when," says Cranston, " he reached both hands 
across the table and grasped my own, and with his face 
fairly illumined by that smile of friendship which I after- 
ward learned to know so well, he said : 

" ' My boy, your are absolutely right ; stick to your man 
through thick and thin. It won't do you any good, because 

we are going to nominate and you can't stop it. But 

you and I are friends from now on.' " 

Saying that he was pleased to have Mr. Wolcott speak 
as he had spoken, because he wanted to be his friend, Mr. 
Cranston told him that at the convention which was to take 
place the next day, in order to make his support effective, 
he would be obliged to follow Wolcott about the floor as 
he was trading the delegation, and trade his quarter against 
Wolcott's three-quarters. 

At that, he threw his head back with a laugh, and said: 
" Certainly, my boy, certainly, I understand all that, — the 
tail goes with the hide." 

" The next day," says Cranston, " in the midst of a dead- 
lock lasting all afternoon, with repeated ballots and the ten- 
sion at the very highest, time and time again, dogging at 
his heels, I would say to some chairman of a delegation : 
1 Mr. Wolcott has only three-quarters of our vote, — I am 
trading a quarter against him,' whereupon, he would turn 
with a laugh, and say : ' Yes, he is right, trade with him 
for his quarter,' and then would pass on to the next man." 

Mr. Cranston continues: 



518 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

The beautiful part of this story is that after Mr- Wolcott' s 
candidate had been triumphantly nominated and elected, one of 
my solid half-dozen came to me, as he had a perfect right to 
do, to ask my help in getting him the best position under the 
new mayor, that of private secretary. 

Knowing that I had no claim upon the mayor, but appre- 
ciating, even then, the noble trait of magnanimity which so 
thoroughly characterized Senator Wolcott, I told my friend that 
I would do what I could, and went straight to Mr. Wolcott 
about it. 

Never will I forget the place and time, even the hour of day, 
of our interview. After I had made frank disclosure of my de- 
sire and confession that I had no right to ask anything of 
him, the response came, quick as a flash : " Yes, sir, you have 
the right to ask of me anything you please, and it will be an 
exceeding pleasure on my part to grant any request you make 
that lies within my power. If you are certain that your friend 
is a good stenographer, understands men, and has the proper 
address and tact in dealing with people, he can have the place. 
1 do not mention the qualities of character and personal respect- 
ability, because the fact that he is your friend makes this 
unnecessary." 

" Yes, Mr. Wolcott, he has all those qualities." 

" Very well, sir, he shall have the place." 

" But, Mr. Wolcott, in fairness to yourself, one other thing 
should be said. He was one of those six men that stood with 
us against you in the convention." 

" I don't give a copper about that ; I like him all the better, 
because I tried every way I knew to get each one of those six 
fellows away from you, and couldn't do it. They are stayers, 
every one of them, and just the sort of chaps I want for my 
friends. They are good fighters." 

Of course, I overwhelmed him with my thanks, and then 
started to go away, only to hear that ringing laugh of his be- 
hind me. " Hold on a minute, here! come back," he called, with 
a note-book in his hand. " Here we have spent ten minutes 
talking about your friend and I have agreed that he shall have 
the place, and he shall have; but how the devil do you suppose 
I can have him appointed until you give me his name; you 
seem to have forgotten all about that." 

It is gratifying to add that Cranston's friend was ap- 
pointed the same week, and remained throughout the Ad- 



CHARACTERISTICS 519 

ministration, as one of the most trusted assistants of the 
mayor. Both Cranston and the private secretary were 
able afterward to render effective service in the Senator's 
first election, and it is in that connection that the sequel 
is found. 

In the following State election Mr. Cranston was chosen 
a member of the Legislature from Arapahoe County. He 
was unpledged, but by this time his friendship for Mr. 
Wolcott had come to be of the most ardent character. 
Shortly after the election, and before the Legislature met, 
hearing that rumors were abroad as to the loyalty of the 
delegation from his county, and never having given any prom- 
ise to Mr. Wolcott, the young member naturally felt that 
the Senatorial aspirant might perhaps be uneasy as to his 
attitude, and be annoyed by the reports which were repeated 
and constant; accordingly, he went to Mr. Wolcott's office, 
where the following colloquy took place: 

Mr. Wolcott: Well, sir, what can I do for you? 

Mr. Cranston: I merely dropped in to talk with you 
about the Senatorial election. 

" Well, what about it? " 

" In view of certain rumors which, of course, you have 
heard, I think you and I would better have a talk as to 
my attitude, because, as you know, we never have had an 
agreement." 

" Now, see here, my boy, suppose I should go to Alaska 
and be gone ten years, do you think that when I came back 
to Denver, and announced myself as a candidate for the 
United States Senate, I would ask my brother Henry whether 
he would support me or not? " 

" Why, certainly not. Such a question would, of course, 
be very needless." 

" Just as much need in that case as in yours. I under- 
stand you just as well as you understand yourself, and I 
know what you are going to do with your vote in the Legis- 
lature. I don't want any promises from you. It takes 
enough time to w r atch the scoundrels without bothering about 
square men. You go back to your office and attend to your 
law business, if you have any, and if you have n't any, 



520 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

hustle around and get some, and don't waste your time and 
mine in telling me what you will do." 

Mr. Cranston's was among the first votes cast for Wol- 
cott, and it is not too much to say that the latter's election 
was almost as gratifying to his former antagonist as to 
himself. 

A Denver attorney, who had stood with Mr. Wolcott 
through the trying times of 1896 and until 1900, and had 
then joined the opposition, was asked at the time of his 
change why he had made it. His reply probably covers 
the experience of many. " Because," he said, " I could not 
think under his leadership. He did the thinking for me. 
He held me and the rest of the crowd as he willed. He let 
you think you were doing your share of the thinking, but 
when it came to a show-down, you thought as he thought or 
not at all. I wanted to do my own thinking and I broke 
away. He was too powerful for me." 

" Do you mean he was the Czar of the Republican party 
of Colorado? " 

" Not that— but " 

" But what? " 

" Oh, blank it, he is such a forcible fellow — he is so mag- 
netic that I felt he would have me in the hollow of his 
hand if I stayed under his leadership." 

It is interesting to know that this same attorney went 
back to the Wolcott fold and afterward worked night and 
day in his interest. 

Necessarily a man of such pronounced views and of such 
outspoken expression made enemies. There was a new 
troop of them after every campaign, and a fresh group 
after each appointment to office. As a rule these were men 
who had been disappointed by some preference shown by 
the Senator for others. Unquestionably, too, he antagonized 
many by his free manner of handling subjects in his speeches 
and conversations. A friendly critic, writing of this phase 
of the Senator's character, took the view that in the main 
enmity toward him was due to faults in the other person, 
saying in part : 

An objection was once made to a prominent politician that 






CHARACTERISTICS 521 

so many were unfriendly to him. The reply was, " We love him 
for the enemies he has made." The same thing might be said 
of Senator Wolcott. One who listens to political gabble in Colo- 
rado must expect to hear harsh things about Wolcott. He is 
blessed with talkative foes. In some instances antagonism is 
due to narrow-mindedness, in some envy, and in some it is a 
case of the pot calling the kettle black. It is a great deal safer 
to judge a man by the foes he has than by the friends. Wolcott 
is undoubtedly proud of some of the former. The test of great- 
ness is the ability to make enemies. 

EARLY POLITICAL PREDILECTIONS 

That Mr. Wolcott was not enamored of politics in his 
early life, his letters to his home people bear witness. As 
early as August 12, 1878, just before he was nominated for 
the State Senate, in a letter to his father telling him 
of his prospect for the nomination, he states it to be his 
" sincere wish to keep out of politics altogether." He adds : 
" I am no politician, and I have no aspirations." 

And again, October 13, 1878, just after his election : 

The campaign is over, and everybody is trying to get back to 
business again. My majority was a complete surprise to my- 
self, as it was, I suppose, to everybody else. I had some 300 
more votes than anybody, and a majority of 516 in a vote of 
2155. It is all over now, and it has n't been worth the expense 
and trouble. There is no especial honor in the office, and it 
was won at the cost of a neglected business, considerable money, 
and a good deal of toadying and dirt-eating, and a general lower- 
ing of self-respect. I find I can be considerable of a political 
worker when I choose, but I hate politics and the arts of the 
politicians. 

On the 23d of October, we find him writing as follows 
to his parents, evidently in response to a letter from his 
father : 

Father's letter came to-day. I read it over carefully three 
times, and mail it to Henry to-night. The advice it contains is 
capital. It is a splendid letter throughout, and I wish I could 
follow its teachings as he would wish. I always do take the 
moral side of every public question; it is the one good habit 



522 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

that remains as the result of my early training, but the force 
of such a position is unfortunately sometimes broken by a man's 
private life. I never expect to be in politics again. I regret 
to say that I know but little of the history of my country, and 
am not fitted for any public place. 

March 5, 1881, just before the close of his State Sen- 
atorial term, he wrote his father, saying : " I am sick of it 
all, and while I live in Colorado I shall never go into 
politics." 

Again, March 30, 1881, he wrote: 

" If I had only followed all the good advice you have 
given me in the last twenty-five years, what a different man 
I would be ! But if I don't always follow your instructions 
and suggestions, I 'm none the less glad to receive them. 
However, I shall stick to my resolution to keep out of politics 
for good. It is the best thing." 

There were more letters to the same effect. 

A study of Mr. Wolcott's early career in politics reveals 
the fact that he never was hidebound in his allegiance to 
party leaders or candidates. There is nothing, however, to 
indicate that he was not loyal at all times to the principles 
of his party, as certainly he was. Already the fact of his 
opposition to Campbell as the Republican candiate for Gov- 
ernor in 1882 has been shown, but it probably would not 
be suspected that ten years previous he had felt friendly 
toward the candidacy of Horace Greeley for the Presidency; 
that in 1876, though for party reasons, he favored Tilden in 
the contest before the Electoral Commission, and that even 
as late as 1884 he was not without consolation over the de- 
feat of his later favorite Blaine by the latter's Democratic 
opponent, Grover Cleveland. There is no evidence that he 
voted for the Democratic candidate in any of these elections, 
and there is positive refutation of the charge frequently 
made during his life, that he cast his ballot for Cleveland 
as against Blaine. The presumption is that he voted for 
his party's candidates in every instance, notwithstanding 
his dislike for some of them. 

Tn a letter written to his father dated at Georgetown, 



CHARACTERISTICS 523 

August 12, 1872, just after his return from a campaign of 
ineffectual effort to obtain the Republican nomination for 
the District Attorneyship, he wrote: 

" Do you wear a Greeley hat? The usual answer out 
here to the question, ' How is North Carolina? ' is, ' I don't 
care if I do.' My opinion is that old Chappaquack will be 
elected. What is yours? " 

If this indicates a friendly feeling for Mr. Greeley, the 
fact should be borne in mind that until very recently that 
gentleman had been one of the foremost of Republican 
leaders. It also soon will appear that Wolcott was not 
partial to General Grant, who was Greeley's opponent. 

In 1876, the year in which Mr. Wolcott began his public 
career by being elected District Attorney, Benjamin H. Bris- 
tow, of Kentucky, occupied a position of some prominence. 
He was Secretary of War during the last Grant Administra- 
tion, and became much talked about in connection with the 
prosecution of the so-called " Whiskey ring " of the day. 
Wolcott's statement of his attitude toward him and in the 
same connection toward Blaine is found in a letter to his 
mother of June 7, 1876. It is brief, but it is definite and 
comprehensive : 

"Is father a Bristow man? I wish he could be nomi- 
nated, but I see no chance for him unless they can find 
some place where Blaine has n't covered up his tracks." 

The next political declaration we have from him is also 
in a letter to his mother, dated December 4th, of the same 
year, after Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, had been nomi- 
nated over Bristow and Blaine and all other opponents, 
and after the election between Hayes and Samuel J. Til- 
den, of New York, had resulted so perplexingly as to call 
for the appointment of a commission of fifteen, which ulti- 
mately gave the office to Hayes. This letter also is brief, 
but it covers a wide range of subjects pertaining to the 
franchise and public policy. It follows: 

I take the New York Tribune, World, and Graphic, and am 
firmly convinced that Tilden is elected and ought to be in- 
augurated. Two things are certain : If Hayes is declared Presi- 
dent, the Republican party is gone without hope of resuscitation, 



524 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

and the best outlook and the only one for the negro is in joining 
hands with the Democratic party. It seems apparent, too, that 
the fatal weakness of this Republic is Universal Suffrage, and 
that the present form of government won't last very long, say, 
not another hundred years. 

However, after the contest was concluded and after 
Hayes had been declared elected and had been installed as 
President, Wolcott gave him support, saying in a letter in 
1878, that his sympathy was with the Hayes rather than 
the Grant faction of the party. 

In a letter to his father of May 22, 1880, just previous 
to the Republican Convention in Chicago, at which James 
A. Garfield was placed in nomination for the Presidency, 
Mr. Wolcott found occasion to express his antagonism both 
to Blaine and Grant. For the first and only time in his 
long continued and voluminous correspondence with his 
parents he wrote on this occasion through an amanuensis. 
After apologizing for the necessity for this resort to assist- 
ance, he says: 

In respect to the political matters about which you write, 1 
cannot of course express myself as specifically and freely as if 
I were myself writing, but I feel very much as you do respect- 
ing the Presidency. I am intensely opposed to General Grant, 
whose nomination at the present time seems certain. In our 
county of Clear Creek, we elected a unanimous anti-Grant dele- 
gation. It seems necessary for all opposed to a third term to 
rally around some name, and that name has been Blaine. I am 
sorry for it, as I am not a Blaine man, but I have been identified 
as such in all our political matters here. We made the strongest 
possible fight against a third term, but we are badly defeated, 
and the chances are that a solid Grant delegation will represent 
Colorado in Chicago. 

Writing to his mother two weeks after the election in 
1884, when Cleveland won over Blaine, Mr. Wolcott says: 
" I voted for Blaine, but I am really heartily glad of the 
change. Six hundred Federal office-holders in this State, 
three hundred of whom are political dead-beats, will have 
the opportunity of earning an honest living. And, fortu- 
nately, our partisanship did n't warp our judgment enough 



CHARACTERISTICS 525 

to prevent Henry and me from betting a little on the 
winning side." 

Again, soon afterward, he tells his father: 

" I am very glad Cleveland is elected. I only hope he 
will turn out the office-holders promptly. Half of them will 
join the Democratic party." 

An analysis of these statements made in the light of 
then existing circumstances will convince any impartial in- 
vestigator that Mr. Wolcott's preferences were merely find- 
ing expression in the direction of what he believed would be 
improved conditions. In the contest of 1872, there was much 
criticism of the Grant Administration, and Greeley was con- 
sidered by many quite as good a Republican as Grant, if not 
better. Bristow was regarded by many as a reformer and 
far above the plane of the ordinary politician. Many 
good Republicans were doubtful of the result in 1876, when 
the Electoral Commission gave the votes of some of the 
Southern States to Hayes, the Republican candidate. Mr. 
Wolcott did not consider it probable that South Carolina, 
Florida, and Louisiana would have cast their votes for a 
Republican, and he thought Tilden had been elected. Be- 
fore becoming personally acquainted with Blaine, Wolcott 
accepted the current accusations against him, and it is evi- 
dent that as late as 1884 he had not changed his mind. 
When, however, he came to know Mr. Blaine, he became his 
strong admirer, and in 1892, in a speech that betrayed a 
radical change of heart, placed him in nomination for the 
Presidency. It should be observed, also, that his attitude 
toward Blaine in 1884 was due largely to his dislike of many 
of the Republican office-holders in the State. Most of these 
had been selected by an opposing Republican faction. Con- 
sequently, the condemnation in this instance is not so broad 
as it might be construed to be. His antagonism to Grant in 
1880 was due largely to fundamental opposition to the third- 
term principle, which found representation in the General's 
candidacy. 

Thus, it will be seen that he opposed what he considered 
bad conditions, and, so far as he could, stood for the higher 
ideals. He learned later that all was not " reform " that 
so labelled itself. 



526 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

POLITICAL CRITICISM 

Many have supposed that Mr. Wolcott was indifferent 
to newspaper and other criticisms, but that such was not 
the case his friends testify unanimously. In public he 
rarely spoke of the calumnies heaped upon him except to 
hit back, but in the privacy of his personal intercourse he 
bewailed them bitterly. Hon. A. M. Stevenson, one of Mr. 
Wolcott's closest friends, tells us that " he did care as few 
men care." " These attacks," says Mr. Stevenson, " cut him 
deep to the heart. It was not for office, but for the friends 
he would not desert that he kept up his Colorado fight. He 
would not have endured so long for himself alone what he 
did endure." Mr. Stevenson adds that the nickname "Cousin 
Ed," as applied by his enemies to indicate their conception 
of his close relationship to the English and his interest 
in their country, was especially annoying to him. All this 
indicated to him that his own people, whom he sought to 
serve, did not understand him or that they intentionally 
misrepresented him. The representations of the latter class 
in his own State, and especially in his own party, hurt 
him grievously, and it is believed by many hastened his 
death. No man ever sought more assiduously to serve a 
people than did Senator Wolcott the people of Colorado. 
Was it unreasonable that he should ask silence if not recog- 
nition? He could not endure abuse where he felt that he 
had earned praise. Few can. 

During the McKinley Administration, and for a short 
time afterward, Mr. Wolcott was made the subject of much 
harsh criticism on account of his distribution of the Federal 
patronage in Colorado, and replying in a statement pub- 
lished in the Denver Republican of November 17, 1901, as 
an interview, he took cognizance of two of the more specific 
charges. They pertained to the participation of Federal 
office-holders in politics, and to " boss rule." He explained 
his reasons for the appointments made by him and also de- 
fended the course of some of the appointees in participating 
in political meetings. In the latter connection he spoke 
especially of the work of D. C. Bailey and C. D. Ford, both of 



CHARACTERISTICS 527 

whom were chairmen of committees and office-holders. On 
these points he said : 

In my opinion a Federal office-holder should not, because he 
holds office, cease to interest himself as a citizen and a Repub- 
lican, in the welfare of his State and the success of his party, 
and in Colorado the two are synonymous. I do not believe, 
however, that he should actively participate in the preliminary 
work of the primaries, or on the floor of a convention. I have 
been away from home since last November, and am not advised 
respecting recent occurrences, but I know that up to that time, 
since the Bryan slide, there had never been any serious con- 
troversy or differences of opinion, at either primaries or con- 
vention, and the work of every Republican, office-holder or 
not, was solely to get as full a registration and as large a 
representation at our conventions and elections as possible. 

Some of the men who hold office in Colorado are among its 
ablest and best party workers. I venture to say that there is 
not one of them, either at the last election or at those preceding 
the last, who would n't have infinitely preferred confining his 
activities to voting the ticket on election day, and who only 
participated in other work because he was urged to it by the 
leaders of the party in the several counties. Some of them have 
been, and are, chairmen of party committees. In every instance 
with which I am familiar, it has been against both their judgment 
and their inclinations. 

A year ago we had great difficulty in finding for the chair- 
manship of our State committee a gentleman who knew the 
leaders of the party throughout the State, and who could put 
his entire time into the campaign. We had n't as many Repub- 
licans then as we have now. I personally urged Mr. Ford to 
accept the post. He protested on the very ground that he 
held public office. I insisted, and he yielded with great reluc- 
tance, and upon the promise that he should be relieved after 
the campaign. 

I was away during the last campaign, but am told that Mr. 
Bailey took the difficult post of chairman of this county com- 
mittee under similar circumstances, and I deeply regret that 
his efforts in support of an excellent ticket were unsuccessful. 
Both of these gentlemen deserve only the highest commendation 
and gratitude from their party associates for their efficient labors. 

It is true that, in many States of the Union, the chairman- 
ship of its committee is held by gentlemen holding either Federal 



528 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

or State office, but this does not make it more palatable for 
certain members of the party whose views are entitled to 
recognition. 

On the other subject, that of party bosses, I am compelled 
to be a little personal. Five years ago Colorado had three Re- 
publican representatives in Congress. In the upheaval of 1896 
I was left the only Republican at Washington, and my position 
forced me into the nominal leadership of the party in Colorado, 
a position I neither sought nor coveted. Necessarily every ap- 
pointment, important or small, throughout this great State, was 
referred to me. This duty was most unpleasing and embarrass- 
ing, but was not to be avoided. In every instance I followed 
the advice of party friends and sought only good appointees 
and the strengthening of the party. As I have said, we had at 
first but twenty per cent, of our party to draw from. 

To-day more Federal appointments are held by men who voted 
for Mr. Bryan in 1896 than by men who voted then for Mr. 
McK'mley, and the differences of '96 are forgotten by every good 
Republican. 

Most of the appointments have justified themselves. There 
were some mistakes. It is pleasant to state the fact that at 
Washington the official record of every one of them is clean. 
But there were twenty applicants, proper applicants, for every 
vacancy, and nineteen Republicans and their friends disappointed 
whenever an appointment was made. 

With my return to private life my duty as to appointments 
is ended. I am naturally interested in endeavoring to see to 
it that fit and proper appointees now in office shall not be 
unjustly removed, but I shall no longer have to do actively 
with the naming of men for Federal office, except, as in common 
with every other citizen, I shall oppose the appointment of unfit 
men. I know of no good Republican in Colorado, fitted for ap- 
pointment, at whose success in receiving an official commission 
I would not cordially rejoice. So far, then, as influencing 
appointments is concerned, I take my place again in the ranks 
of the party. 

Like many other men engaged in active politics, Mr. 
Wolcott could and did strike viciously when under the excite- 
ment of debate or in the midst of a campaign, but that he 
did not nurse his enmities we have many illustrations. We 
have seen how that in the midst of the bitter contest 
of 1896, when Wolcott's political life was at stake, he went 



CHARACTERISTICS 529 

out of his way to speak in terms of praise of Senator Teller's 
purity of purpose as a public man. Mr. Wolcott's speeches 
bear abundant evidence of his temporary resentment toward 
Senator N. P. Hill, while the latter was conducting a vigor- 
ous campaign against him. But when in 1900 it was known 
that Mr. Hill was on his death-bed, we find Senator Wolcott 
expressing the deepest concern for his recovery. 

In the field of national politics, it was natural that Mr. 
Wolcott and the Democratic leader, Hon. William J. Bryan, 
should have clashed, and in many of his speeches, the Colo- 
rado Senator pointedly attacked the Nebraskan because of 
his views — and because he was opposed to him. That, after 
all, however, he had a wholesome respect for him, he has 
left record. Asked in 1899 by an interviewer for his esti- 
mate of Mr. Bryan, Mr. Wolcott said : 

The people in the East, who do not know Mr. Byran, are 
apt to underrate the entire integrity of motive which animates 
him, and which is the great element in his strength. No matter 
how we may differ from him, and I differ from him in a radical 
degree, it is idle not to recognize this fact. I believe that there 
is no sacrifice which Mr. Bryan would not make to further 
what he believed to be the welfare of this country. This sen- 
timent being prevalent in my own section, I can account for 
the intensely loyal following which Mr. Bryan enjoys. 



MR. WOLCOTT'S FRIENDSHIPS 

LIFE without friends would have been a barren waste to 
Mr. Wolcott. No man had more friends or more 
loyal friends than he. And, as many befriended him, 
so he was friend to many. As he bound others to him so 
he was attached to them. He was the personification of 
gratitude. But he did not base all his friendships on cour- 
tesies to himself. Many of them were a thing apart — a 
matter of temperament, of affinity, of kindred tastes, of 
conditions. He was as full of sentiment as an egg is full 
of meat. 

There will, of course, be no effort to enumerate his friends. 
They were too multitudinous to permit of such a course. 
Beginning with his army life, and extending down the years 
through Hudson, Norwich, and Yale; his law-student days 
in Boston and at Harvard; his early days in Blackhawk, 
Central, and Georgetown; his experience as a State legis- 
lator, as an attorney of extensive practice, as a State poli- 
tician, and for many years the leader of his party in the 
State; as a United States Senator and a traveller who cov- 
ered a wide field ; as a clubman, a society man, a bon vivant, 
and a general man of the world, they constitute a formidable 
list. In all these capacities he met and made friends, and 
held them. 

He did not enjoy the association of all people, nor of any 
people all the time; but when not engaged in study or read- 
ing he wanted company; sometimes one friend, at other 
times another — not always the same one. He was erratic 
in this as in many other respects. Much depended on the 
mood. The man who liked to talk about books and travel 

530 



CHARACTERISTICS 531 

was most welcome until politics or sport or business or 
horses engaged his thought; at such times others were 
sought and the book man received scant attention. It 
was with women as with men. He enjoyed their society 
only as they fitted the mood. There also were periods when 
he seemed to prefer to be alone, when not even his intimates 
were desired in his immediate presence. Such moods gen- 
erally befell during campaigns or in the course of professional 
pressure, when, after days given up to strenuous interviews, 
he would seek retreat at Wolhurst, have the telephone cut 
off, the door-bell plugged, and give himself wholly to restful 
quiet and solitude. 

These periods were comparatively rare, however, and, 
while always shutting out more effectively than most men 
those with whom he did not wish to converse, he liked above 
all things to gather about him a congenial party and engage 
in general conversation. So fond was he of companionship 
that when he was in the army he preferred the guard-house 
to guard duty, because, forsooth, when locked up friends or 
acquaintances shared his fate, while when doing the service 
of sentinel he must tread the weary path alone. This con- 
dition was intolerable to him. 

He was at his best with his friends around him. On 
such occasions he was the leader of conversation — the one 
man to whom all listened. He was even a greater success 
as a conversationalist than as an orator, and if all his witty 
remarks in private converse could be recorded there would 
be little room for other material in an ordinary volume. 
His private talk, like his public speeches, generally dealt 
with public questions, but both were enriched by an active 
imagination, a keen appreciation of occurrences, and an in- 
cisive insight into human nature. Add to these natural 
endowments a wide range in reading and extensive travel 
and you have a rare companion. 

Excitement and variety seemed a requisite of existence, 
and companionship was little or nothing to him if it did 
not afford entertainment out of the ordinary. 

It would be invidious to mention any number of his 
Colorado friends, and for this reason no such effort will 
be made. Indeed, desirable as it might be to extend this 



532 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

list to the ordinary walks of life, it has been found imprac- 
ticable to do so, and the discussion here entered upon will be 
confined to political associations. Thus limited, first men- 
tion should be made of Mr. Wolcott's relationship with 
Senator Teller, which is worthy of consideration from both 
the political and the personal view-points. 

Mr. Teller was a resident of Gilpin County and the lead- 
ing lawyer of the State when Mr. Wolcott joined his brother 
Henry in that county. The two then became acquainted, 
and at Wolcott's request Teller sat with him through his 
first trial. His earliest mention of Mr. Teller is found in a 
letter to his mother, written in December, 1876. He speaks 
of receiving a letter from a friend in the East, and adds: 

" I wrote telling him that I had been elected District 
Attorney, and he answers congratulating me on having been 
elected Judge. I suppose if I should be chosen constable 
he would congratulate me on my election to the United 
States Senate, which reminds me that Mr. Teller, one of 
our new Senators, is a warm personal friend of mine." 

The friendship then formed was never broken, though 
subjected to exceptionally severe wrenches during Wolcott's 
adherence to the Hill faction, as it also was through Teller's 
defection from the Republican party on account of silver. 

Wolcott had Teller's support in both his elections, and 
Teller Wolcott's in his election in 1891. Up to the Repub- 
lican split in 1896, which led to Teller's withdrawal from 
the party, they were perfectly united on party policy, and 
they were much together in the Senate. Temperamentally 
and in the matter of personal habits, they were as unlike 
as two men could be. But there is a kinship in intellect 
and in force of character. In this relationship was found 
the tie that bound them together. They were alike in their 
outspoken condemnation of fraud of every kind, in indepen- 
dence of character, and in quickness and comprehensiveness 
of mental action. 

Wolcott found Teller a leader in the silver cause when 
he entered the Senate, and he gave him the most loyal and 
unswerving support as long as there was any chance of 
doing anything to rehabilitate the white metal. On the 
other hand, Teller was one of the first to boost Wolcott for 



CHARACTERISTICS 533 

the Senate; the first to sound his praises in the Senate, and 
his most attentive and appreciative auditor when he spoke 
there. 

In a word, Teller " fathered " Wolcott in the Senate. 
Two instances may be recalled. One occurred when Wol- 
cott entered the body. Four States sent their first Senators 
at the same time that Mr. Wolcott's first term began. Sev- 
eral of the new men seemed to feel that it was incumbent 
upon them to exemplify in the Senate the same quality of 
" hustle " that had given them success at home. Accord- 
ingly, some of them began to pull wires to procure favor- 
able committee appointments, and thus made themselves 
unpleasantly conspicuous in a body where tradition and 
usage do not readily yield to personal urgency. Mr. Wol- 
cott pursued the opposite course. He disclaimed any choice 
as to his appointments and allowed no trace of any per- 
sonal scheming to appear in the friendly relationships which 
he established with his new associates. When, therefore, 
Mr. Teller expressed a wish that Mr. Wolcott might have 
a chairmanship, as such assignment carried with it the use 
of a committee room, his suggestion was readily adopted, 
and the new Colorado Senator was placed at the head of 
the Committee on Civil Service. 

Mr. Teller afterward aided his colleague in getting com- 
mittee places generally considered beyond the reach of new 
Senators. Long regarded as the most important of the Sen- 
ate committees, membership on the Committee on Finance 
has ever been assiduously sought by Senators. It was Teller 
who found a way of getting Wolcott on that committee, 
where he desired to have him placed, not alone for the 
honor, but because he felt that in that position Mr. Wolcott 
could be most helpful to the silver cause, which then was 
the paramount issue with the Colorado Senators. 

Wolcott wanted the place. But it looked for a time as 
if he would not get it. A much older Senator, an Eastern 
man, conceived the idea that he was entitled to the position. 
Both could not be accommodated. Teller was much em- 
barrassed, but he found a way. Invited to the Eastern 
man's house for dinner, he sought out the wife of that gen- 
tleman and said to her: 



534 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

" Why don't you have your husband try for the vacancy 
on the Committee on Foreign Relations? He has studied 
foreign questions; it would give him splendid standing, and 
he can get it almost without trying." 

The wife was socially ambitious. She took the hint, 
switched her husband, and the way was opened for Wol- 
cott's appointment on the Finance Committee. The fact that 
he was on the Committee went far toward rendering him 
available as Chairman of the Bimetallic Commission of 1897. 

As going to show the relations between the two Senators 
the following special despatch from Washington to the 
Denver Times of February 23, 1892, is quoted: 

Politicians in Washington who understand the political situa- 
tion in Colorado have noticed the combination that has been 
made between Senators Teller and Wolcott by which Teller is 
to do everything to enhance the chances of Senator Wolcott for 
re-election when his present term expires. Nearly every bill of 
any importance to Colorado that has been introduced this ses- 
sion has been presented by Wolcott. Teller has remained in 
the background and given the younger man every opportunity 
to draw public attention to him as a statesman who is doing 
all in his power in the interest of his constituents. The fact is 
Mr. Teller is a true Fidus Achates to the breezy statesman from 
Denver. Many of the bills fathered by Mr. Wolcott under ordi- 
nary circumstances would have been pushed through the Sena- 
torial channels by Teller had it not been for the fact that 
there was an understanding between the two men that Wolcott 
should be given all the benefit of this class of legislative duty. 
A little investigation in Washington, however, indicates that it 
is probably unnecessary that this combination should have been 
made. Very few seem to doubt that Senator Wolcott would 
have had smooth sailing for a re-election under any circumstances. 
It is considered that he has ably represented his constituents 
since his advent into the United States Senate. He has been 
determined in his fight for the free coinage of silver and has 
been on the right side of every question that has come up in 
which his State is deeply interested. Senator Teller can well 
afford to aid his young colleague in the interest of his re-election 
;it ihe close of his present term. Senator Teller, it is believed, 
will have no trouble in retaining his Senatorial seat as long as 
he desires. 



CHARACTERISTICS 535 

Many warm attachments were contracted in Washington, 
among the most noteworthy of which were with President 
McKinley, Secretary Hay, Speaker Reed, and Senators 
Lodge, Allison, Fairbanks, Hale, Aldrich, Evarts, Chandler, 
Quay, Carter, Jones of Nevada, Jones of Arkansas, Vest, 
Ingalls, Plumb, Bryce, Hoar, Berry, and Spooner. 

The friendship between Wolcott and McKinley was very 
marked. It began soon after Wolcott entered the Senate, 
when McKinley was Chairman of the House Committee on 
Ways and Means, and was immensely strengthened by Wol- 
cott's support of McKinley for the Presidency in 1896, when 
his Colorado constituency was almost solidly against the 
Ohio man. He not only sent Mr. Wolcott to Europe as the 
head of the Bimetallic Commission, but he was greatly 
pleased with his work in that capacity, and he made him 
the dictator on all points pertaining to Colorado appoint- 
ments. More than that, he consulted him extensively in 
matters of general party policy, offered him a choice of two 
important European diplomatic posts, and selected him for 
Temporary Chairman of the Philadelphia Convention in 
1900, when he (McKinley) received the second nomination 
for the Presidency. 

Senator, and afterward Vice-President, Fairbanks de- 
livered in the Senate one of the eulogies over President 
McKinley, and in sending a copy of the address to Mr. Wol- 
cott, he took occasion to allude to the friendship between 
him and Major McKinley by inscribing it : " To Senator 
Wolcott, whom McKinley loved and in whom he trusted." 
Senator Fairbanks was himself a firm admirer of Mr. Wol- 
cott, and never lost an opportunity to manifest his interest. 

But while Wolcott loved McKinley, he often found the 
kind-hearted occupant of the White House too considerate 
of other people whose feelings Mr. Wolcott did not think 
should be consulted. He would go to the White House 
to expostulate with the Chief Executive over some matter 
of policy or some appointment, but, as he was wont to express 
it, he would " fall into such a bed of roses " that he could 
do nothing but say, " Oh, how beautiful ! " " He is the 
best man on earth," he once said of the President; "but 
he spends most of his. time every day studying how he can 



536 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

get to bed at night without hurting any one." Wolcott 
did not hesitate to offend people whose conduct was such 
as to merit rebuke, and he did not think that even a President 
should so hesitate. Still, he understood McKinley person- 
ally, and did not let the different view-point estrange him. 

One letter only from McKinley has been preserved. It 
was written September 5, 1896, during the memorable cam- 
paign of that year, and was in response to a note from 
Mr. Wolcott. The following extract will serve to show 
McKinley's interest in the Colorado Senator: 

When I would read of the situation in your State, I often 
thought of you. You are entitled to the sympathy of all loyal 
Republicans. I am glad to note, however, that all is not dark, 
politically speaking, even in Colorado. I feel assured that for 
your steadfastness you will in time be amply compensated. I 
reciprocate most heartily your warm expression of good wishes. 

When, in 1901, McKinley succumbed to the wound in- 
flicted by an irresponsible assassin's bullet, Mr. Wolcott 
said in an interview: 

The tragic death of President McKinley is too recent, and 
my feeling of personal grief too great, for me to care at this 
time to dwell upon it. He was the one man in this country 
against whom no breast could harbor malice; and his probity 
and rectitude of purpose and nobility of character will serve 
as an example to young American manhood for all time. I was 
abroad at the time of his assassination, and, notwithstanding 
the jealousies and apprehension which our commercial supremacy 
has aroused, it was touching to an American to witness how 
all Europe shared our grief and sympathized in our loss. 

Probably the most touching of all of Mr. Wolcott's East- 
ern friendships was that with genial, talented, lovable John 
Hay, the poet-diplomat, the most sympathetic of friends, 
the most perfect of gentlemen, the gentlest of men. The 
intimacy took root while Mr. Hay was serving as Ambassador 
to Great Britain, and the attachment continued unabated 
on both sides until Mr. Wolcott's death, which it is interest- 
ing to note occurred just four months, to a day, before Mr. 
Hay's. There was a constant correspondence between them, 



CHARACTERISTICS 537 

and many of Mr. Hay's letters have been preserved. Some 
deal with questions too sacred for print so soon after the 
demise of the two, and others are given in other connections. 
Extracts from two of these letters, both from Washington, 
follow. In the first, written in November, 1900, he says: 

" I hope to see you here very soon. There are many 
things I want to talk to you about. I need your counsel and 
your courage." 

And in the second, in November, 1901 : 

" Next week our summer's work goes to the Senate. I 
wish I could feel that your sterling good sense, your power 
of bright incisive speech, and your genial personal influence 
were there to help us through." 

The following letters dealing with the campaigns of 1900 
and 1902-3 are worth printing entire: 

Washington, Nov. 18, 1900. 
My Dear Wolcott: 

1 have your letter of Tuesday from Wolhurst and I have 
shown it to the President. He is glad to receive your congratu- 
lations. Of course we are all extremely sorry that your immense 
success in Colorado did not bring you back to the Senate. Never- 
theless you have made a glorious fight and won a great victory. 
No such change of votes has ever before been made, and it is 
due to the courage and the genius you put into the fight. 

It must be galling to you to feel that a majority of your 
people were still beyond the reach of sound reason, and I can 
understand your momentary depression. But that will not last. 
You have not only stemmed the tide, you have turned it, and 
the future belongs to you. 

Yours faithfully, 

(Signed) John Hay. 

Washington, Jan. 23, 1903. 
My Dear Wolcott : 

I know it is none of my business — perhaps it is an imperti- 
nence^ — for me to say anything about your Colorado politics. 
But I cannot endure sitting forever dumb while you are engaged 
in such a fight. I cannot but send you a word of sympathy 
and regard. It is well-nigh incredible that the first result of 
the victory which you prepared and made possible two years 
ago should have been the malignant treachery of which you 



538 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

are now the object. If Colorado wanted to show how immeas- 
urably you are the first man in the State, no better means could 
have been chosen. 

I have no right to say these things even to you, but I must say 
them. They do you no good, but they acquit my conscience. I 
want you at least to know how heartily I wish you good luck, 
not only in this desperate fight, but in all things. 

Yours faithfully, 

(Signed) John Hay. 



Mr. A. M. Stevenson has supplied the writer with the 
particulars of an interview at Wolcott's Washington house 
between Mr. Wolcott and Mr. Hay, which illustrates not only 
the close intimacy between the two men, but also shows how 
in time of distress the great diplomat leaned upon and was 
guided by his practical friend from Colorado. The details 
of the conference were of so sacred a character that they 
cannot be revealed even though both the participants are 
dead, but enough may be related to answer the purposes 
of this volume. 

The interview occurred while the first draft of the Hay- 
Pauncefote treaty, dealing, broadly speaking, with Isthmian 
Canal rights was under consideration. Mr. Stevenson was 
a house guest of Mr. Wolcott's. They had sat well through 
the evening discussing questions of mutual interest, when 
Mr. Hay was announced, and following close upon the heels 
of the messenger he came into the room. He seemed em- 
barrassed at finding a third person present. Noticing that 
the Secretary desired to speak confidentially with the Sen- 
ator, Mr. Stevenson was about to retire, when at Mr. 
Wolcott's suggestion Mr. Hay invited him to remain. 

Mr. Hay then opened his heart to the two Colorado men. 
The treaty was undergoing bitter assaults in the Senate and 
in the columns of the press of the country, and the Secretary 
of State was greatly annoyed — so much annoyed, indeed, 
that he had come, not to ask Mr. Wolcott's support for 
the treaty, which he then had, but to announce his intention 
of resigning his high office. Walking rapidly up and down 
the Wolcott sitting-room, he outlined the situation. " I 
know I am right, and yet I know the country is against me, 



CHARACTERISTICS 539 

and there is no honorable course open but to get out of 
the way. My continuance in the Cabinet can be only an 
embarrassment to the President, and I am resolved to send 
in my resignation." This and much more he said, to all of 
which Mr. Wolcott listened with patience and in evident 
distress. 

When Mr. Hay concluded, he entered upon the task 
of dissuading him from his announced purpose. The under- 
taking was not of easy accomplishment, and the night was 
far spent before the effort ceased and the conference came 
to a close. It terminated with a promise on the part of 
Mr. Hay not to be precipitate, but to await further events 
before taking any step in the direction of retiring. He did 
wait; the treaty was modified, but was still left in form 
acceptable to him, and Mr. McKinley was not deprived of 
the services of his most trusted lieutenant. This result the 
President owed entirely to the Colorado Senator, but he 
probably never knew how deeply he was indebted to him. 

Two of Mr. Wolcott's Senate friendships have a romantic 
quality because they were with men so much older than him- 
self. They are those with George F. Hoar, of Massachusetts, 
and William M. Evarts, of New York. Both were men of 
scholarship and literary taste and of high standing at the bar. 
They shared the same traditions and devotion to Puritan 
memories and ideals, although this feeling was stronger in 
Mr. Hoar because of his residence in New England. They 
doubtless were both drawn to Mr. Wolcott because his 
tastes were similar to theirs, and it may also be that in 
their quieter and more secluded habits they found pleasure 
in the younger man's breezy manner and fresh outlook on 
life. Although he opposed both of them in some of their 
pet measures, they maintained a cordial esteem for him and 
frequently sought chats on matters outside their Senatorial 
duties. Mr. Hoar corresponded extensively with the Colo- 
rado Senator, and when Mr. Evarts was finishing his days 
in blindness and retirement, apparently almost forgotten by 
many of his associates, Mr. Wolcott cheered his loneliness 
by seeking him out at his home for a long call. 

Mr. Hoar found especial satisfaction in the fact that Mr. 
Wolcott was of New England origin, and he delighted to 



540 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

discuss his genealogy with him. That he was familar with 
the antecedents of the mother's as well as the father's side 
of the family is shown in the following letter : 

Worcester, Mass., April 12, 1895. 
My Dear Senator: 

The people of Worcester are quite anxious that you deliver 
an address here the coming 4th of July. I hope you will be 
willing to accept the invitation. Your welcome will be as cor- 
dial as possible, and the people are glad to know that on both 
sides you are of Massachusetts stock, and on the mother's side 
belong to Worcester County. There have been no 4th of July 
orations delivered in Worcester for many years. So the occasion 
is not common-place, and you will have as large an audience as 
the place where you speak will hold, which will be, if you come, 
in one of two places, both of which will hold a very large 
audience indeed. 

It will give me great pleasure personally, if you can accept. 

I should be glad to have you for my guest, and to show whatever 

may be worth seeing in this region. Mrs. Hoar and I will also 

be very glad to welcome Mrs. Wolcott, if she shall come with you. 

I am, with high regard, faithfully yours. 

(Signed) Geo. F. Hoar. 
The Honorable 

Edward O. Wolcott. 

One letter from Senator Allison has been preserved. It 
was written in 1904, after Mr. Wolcott had been chosen to 
head the Colorado delegation to the Chicago National Con- 
vention — the last ever attended by him, — and is unusually 
cordial for the conservative Iowa Senator, who served in the 
Senate longer than any other man up to this time, and who 
held the respect of the nation during his entire service. The 
letter runs: 

Dubuque, Iowa, May 8th. 
My Dear Wolcott : 

Some kind friend has sent me a Denver paper showing pro- 
ceedings of the convention at Denver. I want to congratulate 
you and also the party, that you are again in the harness, and 
that you are to head your delegation at Chicago. I want to 
see you in the Senate again, and all say you can go, if you 
will give the matter your personal attention. You ought to be 



CHARACTERISTICS 541 

there now. I hope to take you by the hand soon after your 
arrival, and renew the pleasant association of a few years ago. 
Your old colleagues in the Senate will be glad to greet you. 

Sincerely yours, 

(Signed) W. B. Allison. 

The friendship between Wolcott and Senator Quay was 
known of all men. They read much together, occasionally 
played poker together, and they visited very frequently. 
Like Wolcott, Quay was a lover of books, and Wolcott often 
took refuge from the cares of the day in the Quay library. 
Indeed, while on the surface there was little in common 
between them, there were no two more congenial souls in 
the Senate. 

Senator Wolcott's fine courage and his loyal devotion to 
his friends were well illustrated by the fight which he, al- 
most alone among Republican Senators, made in defence of 
Mr. Quay's seat in the Senate at the time he was appointed 
by Governor Stone. Quay had no case; at least the Senate 
so decided, but Mr. Wolcott's concern was not entirely be- 
cause of that fact. Quay was his friend, and he determined 
to stand by him, although his advocacy created much antago- 
nism in the Senate. 

Another instance which illustrates his practical way of 
manifesting his friendship is found in his course toward 
Senator Quay in connection with the latter's Senatorial 
aspirations. The story of his efforts in behalf of the Penn- 
sylvania's retention of his seat has been told. But the 
public records do not show that when, afterward, Quay 
determined upon again standing for election before the 
Pennsylvania Legislature, Wolcott sent him a check for 
|5000. The letter was addressed " Dear Mike," and was a 
mere line expressing interest in Quay's success. " I don't 
believe he can afford it," said Quay when the letter was 
received, and the check went back through the first return- 
ing mail in a letter which was addressed " Dear Ned." We 
have seen how Mr. Quay tried to compensate him by having 
him given second place with McKinley on the Presidential 
ticket of 1900. 

Wolcott was a James G. Blaine man to the end, too. 



542 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

That he had not been for Blaine originally has been shown, 
but when he did become a follower of the Maine statesman, he 
stood with him fast and true. He was one of the real 
mourners at Blaine's grave. He knew, of course, when he 
arose in the Minneapolis Convention in 1892 to put Mr. 
Blaine in nomination, that he appeared as the champion of 
a lost cause, but that knowledge did not deter him. He had 
been asked by Mrs. Blaine to nominate her husband, the man 
who had been the beau ideal of the young Republicans, of 
whom there was no more enthusiastic and picturesque indi- 
vidual than Mr. Wolcott; and he did his part as ably and as 
eloquently and as earnestly as if he foresaw a victory instead 
of a defeat. 

Senator Wolcott said at the time and always afterward 
maintained that but for the fact that the office-holders were 
organized into a formidable body and the delegates from many 
States instructed to vote for the renomination of Harrison, 
the Blaine fight would have been won instead of lost. Plausi- 
bility was given to this argument by the fact that while the 
roll was being called, chairman after chairman cast the votes 
of their States for Harrison, saying that they did so under 
instructions, and that otherwise they would vote for Blaine. 

When he first entered the Senate Mr. Wolcott said of 
the Southern Senators : " They 're moss-backs, many of 
them; they are living in the past, and don't know the war 
is over; they drink too much whiskey and chew too much 
tobacco; they're a cantankerous lot, but, after all, they're 
so dead rotten poor you can't help respecting and admiring 
them." 

But the raillery gave place to respect and esteem when 
he came to know the Southerners better. He formed agree- 
able relations with many of them, and with none were 
these relations more pleasing or more cordial than with 
Senators Jones and Berry of Arkansas, both ex-Confed- 
erate soldiers, and Jones the Chairman of the Democratic 
National Committee during the two Bryan campaigns. In 
his speech giving account of the European mission, Wolcott 
took occasion to praise Jones, and that Jones reciprocated 
the sentiment there expressed is shown by the following 
letter to Wolcott: 



CHARACTERISTICS 543 

Washington, D. C, April 29, 1899. 
Hon. E. O. Wolcott, 

Denver, Colo. 
My Dear Senator: 

Your letter written me from New York reached me all right. 
Since coming here my doctor has rearranged all the plans I 
had made without consulting him, and insists on my stopping 
at Southampton instead of going to Bremen, and suggests that 
I find some quiet place away from the " crowd's ignoble strife," 
and spend several weeks in the South of England, and that I 
then go to the mountains of Scotland and stay for a considerable 
time, devoting myself absolutely to rest. He says I do not need 
treatment at all, and that the treatment at Carlsbad would be 
the very thing I do not want. 

I enclose you a clipping which I receive in this mail from 
Moreton Frewen, showing something of the feeling in financial 
circles and the probable action of their Commission. I have 
never had words to express my disgust with the course pursued 
by our prominent men on this side and the British Government 
in '97. It seems to me that the suggestion made in some papers 
here that the Administration has redeemed its promise to the 
people made by the platform of 1896 by making the effort that 
was made through you and that we are under no obligations 
to take any other steps in the direction of bimetallism, shows the 
real purpose of those in authority. True, in this I may be mis- 
taken. I am a very earnest bimetallist, and will be glad to 
see bimetallism accomplished by any means, because I believe 
it would be best for this country and the world at large. 

While I am on the other side I may go to Paris for a short 
stay, but will not stay long, and I may go up the Rhine to 
Switzerland for a short trip, but I expect now to spend very 
little time on the Continent. I wish you would write me c / 
J. S. Morgan & Co., 22 Old Broad Street, London, when you 
are likely to come over and where you are likely to be. I want 
to see you when you come, and hope I may be able to see a 
good deal of you on that side. 

Very sincerely yours, 

(Signed) James K. Jones. 

That Mr. Wolcott was true to his friends, Hon. John W. 
Springer, candidate for Mayor of Denver in 1904, testified 
at the Memorial meeting in Denver after Mr. Wolcott's 
death, when he said: 



544 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

" Tears come unbidden when I recall his last fight for 
me in the mayoralty contest in Denver less than a year 
ago. Coming all the way from New York, and rising from a 
bed of sickness, and leaning heavily on his cane, he appealed 
to the loyal members of the Grand Army of the Republic 
to stand by the regular nominees of the Grand Old Party." 



READING, ART, EDUCATION 

INTENSELY fond of books, Mr. Wolcott could not be said 
to be an omnivorous reader. He demanded the right to 
choose. The author must be to his liking and the matter 
entirely attractive. He must be amused or entertained. 
There must be a strong picture or a good story or a true and 
entertaining characterization of human nature to hold him 
long. Humanity was always interesting to him, and his 
reading dealt largely with its doings — in history, biography, 
adventure, commercial achievement, or romance. He espe- 
cially enjoyed history and biography because they portrayed 
real men and, for the most part, big men. He, however, 
found pleasure in any good composition, whether in prose 
or verse, if along the lines of his choosing, and novels, essays, 
orations, all, came in for attention. He was fond of tell- 
ing of his asking John Hay how it was that people did not 
read poetry as much as formerly, and receiving as a reply 
this question, " How long is it since you stopped reading 
it yourself? " He was fond of reminiscences of public 
and social life, and he owned many books of travel. The 
leading novelists also found a prominent place on his shelves 
and the pages of their works bore ample evidence that they 
were not there as mere ornaments. With the Bible he 
was familiar, but truth demands that it should be stated 
that this acquaintance was due to association with those 
who had come much into close contact with the sacred book 
rather than to any research of his own. As a boy he had 
been a church-goer, and he also had absorbed much from 
his father and mother. His retentive memory and his dis- 
criminating appreciation had enabled him to retain many 

vol i.-3S 545 



546 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

of the pertinent and beautiful passages in the Book, and 
they were most useful to him in his public speeches. 
Many of his most striking quotations and aptest illustrations 
were drawn from the Scriptures. He enjoyed the artistic, 
the well-dressed, the attractive, and his author, whether 
sacred or profane, must supply this demand of his nature. 

While he read discriminatingly, Mr. Wolcott scanned 
many books. Few kept pace with current literature so thor- 
oughly as he, and few were more familiar with the old 
English writers. Senator Hale, who is such a book lover 
that he keeps a small library in his committee-room at the 
Capitol, told the writer that when worn out with the Sen- 
ate routine or perplexed over any subject, it was a habit 
of Mr. Wolcott's to betake himself to his (Mr. Hale's) room, 
where he would rush to the book-shelves, take down the work 
of a favorite author, and so immerse himself in its pages 
as to completely forget all his troubles. He liked to talk 
books, and could quote freely from many authors. His 
letters to his father and his father's to him reveal the origin 
of this propensity. There is much exchange of views about 
books. The son is constantly informing the father what he 
is doing in the way of reading, and the latter as constantly 
counselling and guiding him in this respect. 

In his sketch of Mr. Wolcott's life at Wolhurst, Justice 
Kent has told us something of his reading habits there, 
and Governor Thomas contributes the following: 

At the time of Mr. Wolcott's death, and for many years pre- 
vious, he was the owner of the finest literary library in the 
State, and perhaps in the country west of St. Louis. He had 
standing orders for rare and curious volumes, and for standard 
works as fast as they were issued from the press. No book 
of consequence escaped him, unless it were something belong- 
ing to another age and concerning topics of obsolete or ques- 
tionable nature. His books were a ruling passion, and he read 
them as well. I have seldom met a man better informed upon 
matters of current importance, or more thoroughly equipped for 
their discussion. 

This love of books extended to law-books as well. As soon 
as his means would permit he secured full sets of all reports 
published in the English language, covering not only England 



CHARACTERISTICS 547 

and the United States, but English-speaking provinces and 
colonies everywhere. Text-books on every possible topic also 
crowded his library. Nothing escaped him in the bibliographic 
world which appeared in good binding and in the English 
language. 

He kept a standing order with a Boston book-store for 
all of its best books. 

He also appreciated art and architecture. His residence 
was supplied with good pictures, and his office was adorned 
with well-executed portraits of eminent English and Ameri- 
can masters of jurisprudence. He was an active participant 
in all the debates in the Senate dealing with these subjects. 

He was a persistent advocate of education, and he be- 
lieved that young people should be sent to the best institu- 
tions of learning, on account both of the scholastic and 
the social advantages. He was, however, not of the kind 
that would place books and study above every other con- 
sideration in life, as his " home " letters testify. Indeed, if 
thoughtlessly considered, these letters might create the im- 
pression that he was indifferent to the work of the schools. 
Such certainly was not the case. On the contrary, no one 
believed more thoroughly in the advantages of a liberal edu- 
cation. To understand his advice to his sisters, the facts 
regarding his home relations should be taken into considera- 
tion. He was the son of a preacher and of a pious mother, 
and in all matters they were strict with their children. Full 
of buoyant life, and thoroughly appreciative of the enjoy- 
ments of liberal living, Mr. Wolcott felt that his sisters 
might be too constrained. His advice w T as therefore in- 
tended to influence them toward a more generous course 
than would have been consonant with the home training. He 
never lost an opportunity to urge the youth of both sexes 
to avail themselves of every opportunity for culture, and 
he frequently aided them to that end. 

Moreover, he felt that his sisters were too much inclined 
to close application, and he felt real concern over the pos- 
sibility of injury to health by such a course. He would 
have them mix school duties with lighter pastimes. Writ- 
ing in 1883 to one of the young ladies then in college, he 



r- 1; ~ ; 




w 

Abb ._- 



- - - 






550 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

ing to good preaching." Manifestly these expressions were 
intended to tantalize the family, but they show a falling 
off in zeal. That, however, there was a lingering interest 
is evidenced by a letter to his parents as late as 1873, when 
he writes complaining of their failure to inform him that 
some of his sisters recently had become members of the 
Church. " When I joined," he said, " I thought the act of 
enough importance to write my relations and notify them." 

His Norwich pastor, Rev. M. M. G. Dana, testifies that 
he was a worthy member of his organization. Writing to 
Mr. Wolcott in 1866 in connection with the granting to 
him of a letter of dismissal, he says: 

I cannot part from you without assuring you of my continued 
interest in your welfare. Your firm and manly Christian course 
especially endeared you to me, and I cannot tell you how much 
I regret losing you from my Church. You have been of assist- 
ance to me in our social evening meetings, while your readiness 
to meet the duties of your new life afforded encouragement to 
me to labor on. In our young people's meetings we shall always 
think of you, and you may have the satisfaction of knowing that 
your upright, earnest example has served to keep you in grateful 
remembrance by those who knew and watched you. 

Mr. Wolcott always maintained a friendly attitude to- 
ward the churches, and upon appeal they never failed to 
receive his encouragement and support. He simply fell out 
of the way of going to service. There was nothing in his 
mature life to stimulate interest in church attendance, and 
he was too frank to pretend an interest he did not feel. 
He did not enjoy prosy sermons any more than he did dull 
speeches, and, when he could, he remained away from places 
where he would be compelled to listen to either. His atti- 
tude is well summarized in a letter written to his father in 
1881. He was speaking of a former schoolmate who had 
studied for the ministry, and who had been sent to a fron- 
tier town to preach. Commiserating the young man's for- 
tune, he exclaimed, " Poor fellow ! " and straightway added : 
" And yet to know as he knows, that there is a heavenly 
kingdom and a life to come, and to have one half the grip 
on that heavenly kingdom that he has, I would cheerfully 



CHARACTERISTICS 551 

change places with him, or, harder still, I would sit under 
his preaching the rest of my days." 

Justice Campbell supplied this summary of Mr. Wolcott's 
religious views at the general Wolcott Memorial Services in 
1906: 

" Pious cant he abhorred and meaningless generalities 
avoided. The good things he did he would have us re- 
member, and only those; for, though he never paraded his 
religious beliefs, his godly father's religion was for him 
the eternal verity." 

THE LIFE TO COME 

Aside from eulogies delivered over dead friends in 
Congress, we find very little in Mr. Wolcott's speeches or 
writings regarding life beyond the grave. The one definite ex- 
pression in his letters which has come down to us was written 
when he was in the law school at Harvard in 1871. He was 
discussing a sermon by Horace Bushnell which his father 
had sent him. Writing to that parent regarding the sermon 
and its author on March 15th, of that year, Mr. Wolcott says : 

I know nothing about him, but have a hazy impression that 
he is not considered orthodox. This sermon should relieve him 
from any such imputation. It was very able, the only difficulty 
being that no one ever believed (that I ever heard of) that we 
should have a chance to live life over again. Many believe that 
we are purified by suffering and the punishment will not be 
eternal, which I think is very plausible, reasoned humanly; but 
after all I can see but one question in regard to here and here- 
after. And that is, Do I believe the Bible as it is written and 
in its entirety? If I do, there is but one course, and the man 
is a fool who tries to make Jesus Christ less than divine or 
Hell shorter than eternity and founds his reasoning on the 
Holy Bible. But the moment you let in a doubt as to the 
genuineness or inspiration of a single book or the truth of a 
single miracle or try to account for any unaccountable event in 
any other way than that it is a miracle, you are filled with 
perplexities and are in a condition to drift into almost any 
belief. Am I not right? 

Apparently he speculated very little concerning the 



552 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

future. In the absence of specific knowledge or definite opin- 
ions, it was like him to remain mute. When he touched 
upon the subject in his writings he generally did so in con- 
nection with an outburst of moralizing over the lack of com- 
pensation in the present existence, as witness the following 
in a letter to his father, written from Colorado toward the 
close of the campaign of 1880 : 

What a lot of clap-trap there is in public life anyway! A 
man is always compelled to pose before some sort of a con- 
stituency. If a man could only live a quiet life passed either 
with his books (not law-books) or in travel he could lay up 
for himself treasures for his old age, if he reached one, and 
could reap genuine enjoyment and happiness. We none of us 
know anything about the other world ; we know a good deal 
about this — and wherein are the greatest and most famous men 
who are dead any better or happier than those old Wolcotts 
whose very existence you can ascertain only by deciphering some 
dusty parchment or unearthing some old tombstone? 

Or the following in 1881, to the same correspondent : 

When one is reasonably busy and following the humdrum life 
that knows no difference between one day and another, there 
is n't much news to write home. The only variety I have is 
that one day my time is taken up with an examination into 
a claim for damages, and another respecting some breach of 
contract, or the examination of a title. It 's all very fine. You 
have with you the consciousness of having done your duty and 
earned your salt, but there is very little spice in it after all. 
There ought to be a next world for such people; they cannot 
find much enjoyment in this one. 

In his first published speech, delivered at Denver during 
the campaign of 1880, we find an incidental but interesting 
reference to the possibilities of a future life. He was speak- 
ing especially of the responsibilities of citizenship, when he 
said: 

We can none of us know what awaits us in that hereafter, 
in that unknown to which we in our turn shall go, as a bird 
flies from the lighted room out into the darkness and the night. 



CHARACTERISTICS 553 

It may be that we shall realize the Buddhist hope, and spend 
the illimitable future iu calm and passionless contemplation of 
the worlds below us, without longing and without desire. Per- 
haps there await us the Heavens of Mohammed, with their 
barbaric splendors; or it yet may be, as so many of us hope 
and believe, that, redeemed and sanctified, we shall sit at the 
feet of the crucified Saviour, the Christ no longer bearing upon 
His body the marks of the spear that pierced Him, or of the cruel 
nails or the crown of thorns, but rehabilitated in His majesty 
and resplendent in the ineffable glory of His divine presence. 
It is not given us to know of these things; but it is given u£ 
to realize and to remember that until we go to join the silent 
majority, silent to all human ears, we dwell in the living present; 
that to our times and this generation is confided, in the govern- 
ment of men, the one hope of the world ; that to us is entrusted 
the manhood, the equal manhood, and the liberty, the equal 
liberty, of mankind. These duties and these trusts are upon us. 
And the young men of Colorado will highly resolve that to 
these duties and these trusts they will not prove false. Our 
eyes are turned upward, our feet press forward. Armed with 
these resolves, we can never be dislodged, for our feet are planted 
upon the eternal rocks. 

Mr. Wolcott joined in but two of the ceremonies in Con- 
gress in eulogy of the dead, and on both occasions spoke in 
commemoration of the services of personal friends. The first 
address of this character was delivered March 1, 1893, on 
the character of Senator Randall Lee Gibson, of Louisiana, 
a Yale alumnus with whom the Colorado Senator was on 
terms of close friendship. The only reference to a future life 
in that address was contained in the following paragraph : 

He has travelled the way of all men born of woman, the 
great souls and the little. " One event happeneth to them all," 
and from none has yet come a voice our ears can hear. If there 
be somewhere souls of men who have lived, he sits in goodly 
company, with the truest and the best. If that which was Gib- 
son now lies in the earth returned to our common mother, he 
will yet live in the higher and purer thoughts and nobler en- 
deavor of his fellow-men, toward which his blameless life was 
both the incentive and the example. 

The second memorial address was delivered Februarv 18, 



554 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

1899, and John Simpkins, late a member of the House of 
Representatives, was its subject. In his remarks on that 
occasion, Mr. Wolcott said: 

The world keeps full enough, as far as numbers are con- 
cerned, and in the conduct of the business and affairs of life 
there is always somebody to take the vacant place. But a lost 
friend is not so easily replaced. We gather ourselves together 
and life goes on about as usual; but there is something gone 
that never comes back. He left us, however, that which neither 
time nor his death can take from us — the remembrance of an 
honorable, true-hearted, straightforward man, who brought good 
alone to those who knew him, and who has left behind him 
only pleasant and happy memories. 

Only a few days before he died we stood together on the 
heights near Arlington overlooking the Potomac. It was a 
glorious morning in early spring; the city lay at our feet bathed 
in mist, and the swelling hills and the broad river stretched far 
away until they mingled with the horizon. He spoke of the 
wonderful beauty of the landscape and of the pleasure it gave 
him. When I was next in his presence, it was as a mourner 
at the touching burial service of that beautiful religion which 
he cherished, and great banks and masses of flowers covered all 
that was left of him. And as my thoughts turned back to that 
vision of hill and river, closed to him forever, I realized that 
perhaps his eyes had already opened where no horizon limited 
his gaze, in pure ether, and, illumined with the " white radiance 
of eternity," he looked with unclouded vision upon fairer scenes. 

When taken to task for alleged inconsistency by Senator 
Harris on October 9, 1893, in connection with the discussion 
of the Repeal Bill, Senator Wolcott said : 

I may as well say here now that if by act inconsistent with 
my entire political life, if it be still an act of honor, I would 
redeem this country from its present peril without a moment's 
hesitation. As individuals, of what consequence are we? We 
are here for a day and gone to-morrow, fleeting through time 
on our way rapidly from one world to another. What matters 
much the record we make, so we make it for the safety and 
welfare of the country? 



IN BUSINESS 

SENATOR WOLCOTT'S success in business is noticed 
in another connection; and reference is made to his 
career in that respect in this place only for the pur- 
pose of directing especial attention to a trait of his char- 
acter of which the world took little note. 

First and foremost he was a business man, and to his 
faculty as a man of affairs was largely due his success 
as an orator, lawyer, and statesman. To many this broad 
statement must appear contradictory, in view of the fact 
that his reputation was for achievement in other fields of 
activity; but it is believed that careful analysis of his char- 
acter and career will sustain it. Close scrutiny of Mr. Wol- 
cott's speeches will reveal the fact that their convincing 
force is due to the insight of their author into human affairs. 
They deal largely with every-day questions; with the busi- 
ness of the world, with which he manifests a knowledge 
sufficient to convince the reader that he knew more of the 
subject than most men. 

What, after all, is statesmanship but the application 
of business methods to affairs of State? The best business 
man ought to be the most capable executive, the most suc- 
cessful diplomat, the wisest legislator. And he would be if 
only he would study some of the little arts of politics and 
take the time to master the law applicable to business — the 
business of nations as well as that of the commercial world. 
The great trouble with most men of business is that they 
live in a circle which they permit to become too restricted. 
With a broader culture added to proper commercial methods 
most of them would be happier and more useful citizens. 

555 



556 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Something of an Admirable Crichton, Mr. Wolcott was 
a master in many spheres. He easily took on the broader 
culture of his profession and turned it to use in unravelling 
the mysteries of finance and commerce, in turn making his 
natural business instincts promote his success as a lawyer 
and afford him his best guide as a public speaker. He was 
a born organizer. Referring to him, one of his admirers has 
said : " He was a great lawyer. Oratory and business ca- 
pacity are elements which do not combine under ordinary 
circumstances, but in the peculiar composition of Mr. Wol- 
cott's mind these elements found complete and harmonious 
representation.'' 

We have seen how that when a mere youth Mr. Wolcott 
devoted himself to insurance and merchandizing and how 
also for one of his age he proved exceptionally success- 
ful. In later years we find him filling the highly responsible 
position of director of the great Denver and Rio Grande 
Railroad system, promoting important mining enterprises, 
and becoming a successful operator in Wall Street. 

From the time of their first entrance in Colorado, the 
Wolcotts were interested in mining. Henry gave the busi- 
ness more systematic attention than Edward, because mining 
was in the line of his employment; but the latter also made 
a close study of mining conditions and frequently expressed 
the opinion in his letters to friends that mining opened the 
most direct and certain avenue to wealth. He did not be- 
come a mine owner in Clear Creek County, the place of his 
first location, but soon after removing to Denver, he ac- 
quired an interest in a mine at Leadville and in the Little 
Annie Mine at Aspen. Later he and his brother Henry were 
large owners in the Last Chance, one of the big mines at 
Creede, and out of it they made a great deal of money. They 
also held other mining interests in various parts of the State 
and in Montana and Mexico. While mining was uncertain, 
the profits were large when there were any; therefore it 
appealed strongly to Mr. Wolcott. No inconsiderable part of 
his fortune was taken out of the ground. 

Ed's first letters from Georgetown indicate not only a 
careful study of the mineral resources of that rich district, 



CHARACTERISTICS 557 

but a determination to control some of these avenues to 
wealth and ease. In November, 1872, only a year after his 
arrival in Colorado, he wrote his father: 

You can have no idea what a fascinating thing mining is. 
If a man has a good-paying lode, he is wholly independent. In 
every other business, as a merchant, agent, or professional man, 
you must toady more or less to some one. But a miner has his 
wealth and his sustenance down in the rock and is " beholden 
to nobody," and when a man does make money out of his mine 
(which happens in about one instance in forty) he always makes 
it fast. The money in mining, however, and this holds good in 
all mining countries, is in selling; for you get your money all 
at once. 

Referring to his financial condition he says, writing from 
Georgetown in 1877 : " An economical man could save 
money and buy a mine." Both of the brothers, however, 
were accustomed to say in later years that if a man put 
any money into a mine, he would best charge it to profit 
and loss, and then regard as clear gain any return he might 
receive. Ed probably had reference to the Leadville mine 
when, in January, 1884, he wrote his parents asking whether 
Henry had " told them anything about a wonderful mine 
we own," and adding: " If a mine does nothing else for a 
man, it at least keeps him always hopeful." 

Mr. Wolcott became largely interested in lands and ir- 
rigation enterprises, and in Denver suburban property; and 
his ability was nowhere more conspicuous than in the facility, 
tact, and success with which he brought men together for 
the exploitation and development of these various interests. 

Mr. Wolcott also dealt heavily in stocks, and in this line 
of business he at times made large sums of money. In 
stock dealing, he was not so much inclined to be a " plunger," 
as in gambling. He acted less on impulse, and was 
far more deliberate and conservative, weighing conditions 
carefully and listening to advice. In these as in all 
other business transactions he controlled a wider knowledge 
of affairs and possessed a mind more capable of analyzing 



558 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

conditions than do most men. While, therefore, he often 
appeared reckless in his dealings, such was not necessarily 
always, nor indeed generally, the case. True, few men ever 
lived who loved the excitement of risk as did Ed Wolcott, 
and when bent on mere sport, his abandon was limitless. 
He " played " everything to the limit. But when engaged 
in actual business he proceeded with more caution and al- 
ways with due regard to the probabilities, after careful 
scrutiny for himself. 

While his disposition to take all the chances found vent 
at the gaming-tables, in stock speculation he used the in- 
formation derived from his study of business conditions and 
obtained from men high in business circles, many of whom 
gave him their confidence. 

This statement is in line with the opinion of Mr. Grant 
B. Schley, the New York banker, through whom Mr. Wol- 
cott conducted most of his stock business and who in a 
letter to the author says of Mr. Wolcott : 

In many ways Mr. Wolcott was extremely conservative and, 
I always felt that, if I had a proposition needing careful atten- 
tion and close insight, there was no better mind to present it 
to than our friend, as he was never optimistic — as was his repu- 
tation — but extremely careful and critical in his examination 
of any complicated proposition and always extraordinarily clear 
in placing the debits and credits in their due proportion. 

He profited largely through the merging of the Chicago, 
Burlington, and Quincy Railroad with the Great Northern 
and probably reached the zenith of his fortune at the time 
this combination was consummated. Later he lost heavily, but 
the last year of his life was marked by compensating gains, 
and lie was a wealthy man when he died. In conversation 
with friends during his last visit to Denver in the fall of 
1904 he spoke freely of his losses during the previous year, 
but he added that latterly there had been a turn in his 
affairs for the better, and said that business conditions were 
improving. 

As such Mr. Wolcott's sporting proclivities had nothing 
to do with his business career. And yet in them are found 
some of the strongest indications of his general character. 






CHARACTERISTICS 559 

While doubtless his devotion to games of chance was due, 
as has been said, to love of variety and excitement, the in- 
dulgence of the propensity brought into play many other 
mental qualities which were common to his participation 
in any labor or any pastime. One of these qualities was 
courage — " nerve." He was as daring in his bets as in his 
speeches, but probably not always so wise. If, in speaking, 
his judgment or his instinct told him to risk a bold attack 
involving personalities or unpopular positions, he did not 
hesitate to " sail in." The same was true of his speculations, 
and when under the excitement of " the game," neces- 
sarily there was less appeal to reason than when engaged 
in a purely intellectual exercise. He acted largely from 
impulse. But even then he won oftener than he lost, so 
that it can be stated that he was successful in this as in 
most other respects. Justice Brewer tells us he had an 
instinct for winning. It should be said of him that he did 
not covet the mere possession of wealth. He had all of the 
Western man's love of the game for its own sake, and money 
was valued only for what it brought. 

In his speeches in and out of Congress, Mr. Wolcott 
dealt courageously and incisively with business questions. 
He did not hesitate to say a good word for the railroads 
when convinced that their interests were unfairly attacked, 
and on more than one occasion Wall Street and Wall Street 
operators were the subject of his favorable comment. On 
the other hand, if railroads or speculators were found to 
be infringing the law or violating good morals, he was as 
quick to condemn as he had been ready to praise. 

On two occasions while in the Senate, in connection with 
committee investigations, Mr. Wolcott had occasion to speak 
of his business methods. One of these arose during the 
silver agitation, when a special House Committee with Hon. 
Nelson Dingley, of Maine, as Chairman, was appointed to 
investigate the existence of an alleged silver pool, supposedly 
formed for the purpose of promoting legislation for the pur- 
pose of speculation in silver. Because they were from a 
silver-producing State, but, without being summoned, Sen- 
ators Teller and Wolcott appeared before the committee and 



560 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

made statements. Both said they had had no previous know- 
ledge of such a pool, if any existed, and Mr. Teller added that 
he neither owned any silver mines nor had any knowledge of 
speculation of any character. Denying all knowledge of any 
silver pool or syndicate, Mr. Wolcott stated that not since he 
had been in the Senate had he speculated in anything. He 
created a laugh by saying that he wished he was as innocent 
of all knowledge of speculation as was his colleague. 

The other occasion on which he spoke of his business 
operations occurred during the inquiry into the operations 
of the Sugar Trust in 1894 in connection with the passage 
of the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Bill, when it was charged that 
some Senators had been influenced by business considera- 
tions to vote for the sugar schedule that was adopted. All 
the members of the Senate were called before a Senate Com- 
mittee, and asked to state whether they had been approached 
in any way in the interest of the schedule or had speculated 
in sugar with knowledge of the provision before it was en- 
acted into law. Mr. Wolcott replied emphatically in the 
negative. 

Mr. Wolcott did not see in trusts the dangerous element 
that some have professed to find in them. He spoke very 
seldom on the subject, but when it was under consideration' 
he did not hesitate to express himself frankly. Probably the 
tersest exposition of his views on this subject is given in an 
interview published in the Washington Post of November 
16, 1897, in which he is quoted as saying: 

I have always believed that an accumulation of capital could 
do business to better advantage and with more benefit to the 
public and the employee, than smaller concerns handicapped by 
lack of capital. Personally I see no danger in the transaction of 
business by these combined corporations. I do believe, of course, 
that they should be called upon to deal with the public with 
the utmost publicity and that their corporate transactions should 
be subjected to the most searching scrutiny; but, when this is 
done, I cannot see that any great danger threatens the country 
through their existence. It is certain that labor was never so 
well paid or so contented as at present. The only large com- 
bination of capital that has affected us in the West has been 



CHARACTERISTICS 561 

the smelter combine, and it is rather gratifying to note that the 
steadiness and firmness of the price of silver has been largely 
caused by the fact that there are not twenty or thirty smelters 
bidding against each other in the markets for the sale of their 
silver. 

He was in the Senate when the Sherman Anti-trust Bill 
became a law and he did not oppose it. 



RELATIONS TO FAMILY AND HOME 

Denver, Colo., 

January 3, 1899. 
My Dear Mother: 

This is the first line I have written since my nomination by 
the caucus, and I want my first letter to be to you, my dear 
mother. I feel very happy and very humble. I shall do my 
best. I know my limitations and my weaknesses, but I trust 
I shall never bring discredit to the name I bear. If I do well 
it will be because God gave me the best father and mother any- 
body ever had. If father were only alive! 

I love you very much and dearly, 

Your son, 

Ed. 

This letter is a key to one of Mr. Wolcott's strongest 
characteristics — his love for the members of his family, and 
especially for his parents. From his earliest days, he was 
exceptionally fond of his father and mother. He also main- 
tained an affectionate regard for all of his brothers and 
sisters, and sought in every possible way to assure them 
of his interest. His letters are full of avowals of attach- 
ment, and that his words were not mere empty expressions 
was evidenced by innumerable acts of tenderness. After his 
own fortunes improved, he was tireless in his efforts to 
better conditions for other members of the family. 

As he was partial to his family, so also was he fond of 
home, of locality, and of friends. And his attachment was 
strongest for his first home — for New England, and espe- 
cially for Massachusetts, the State of his birth. Man of 
many contradictions that he was, he loved the East better 

562 



CHARACTERISTICS 563 

than the West, the country better than the city, his home 
better than his club, although a city man, a man of the 
world, and a resident of a Western State. Notwithstanding 
his marked success in Colorado, he was an Easterner in 
many of his inclinations. 

Mr. Wolcott always professed to long for a country life, 
and he even went to the extent in one or two of his letters 
of asserting that he wanted to be a farmer. This tendency 
found expression in the establishment near Denver of his 
country place, Wolhurst; but it was so closely connected 
with the city, and the life lived there was so opposed to 
the ordinary idea of the rural as to almost contradict his 
verbal expression. Whatever the attraction, there is no 
doubt that he was extremely fond of the place, and it is true 
that while he provided himself with city comforts he also 
enjoyed the beauties of nature which surrounded him in 
profusion at Wolhurst. English-like in many of his ten- 
dencies and modes of life, he possessed the English gentle- 
man's love of land and all that it implies. He liked the 
quiet and the beauty of the country side. But the other 
aspect of his nature — the passion for activity — found better 
expression in the city than it could have found amid rural 
scenes, and it may well be imagined that he would have been 
most miserable if condemned to abide by his own professed 
preference for a continuous residence outside a large city. 

The letter to Mr. Wolcott's mother was only one of many 
showing strong filial affection. In one of these, written 
in November, 1874, while on his first visit to the parental 
home from Colorado, he expressed himself strongly. The 
letter was to his father, who was absent in the performance 
of his ministerial duties, and it was penned for the sole pur- 
pose of telling the parent how sorry he was not to see him. 
It ran as follows: 

Home, Saturday Evening, 

7 November, '74. 
My Dear Father: 

I have been at home two days and have had a very happy 
time; but I missed you more than I can tell you. I have never 
visited Cleveland before when you were not here, and when we 
did not have at least one pleasant talk together. There were 



564 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

many things I wanted to tell you and advise with you about. 
Perhaps I can write of them to you. 

I am sitting at your table where you have written me many 
fatherly, encouraging letters. And I hope I shall receive many 
more " from the old stand," and that although you are con- 
tinually travelling about doing missionary work, you will not 
forget you have a son on whom much good advice could be profita- 
bly spent, and who, though bad in many things, does love his 
father and mother. 

Ever your affectionate son, 

Ed. 

As was expressed in another letter, all of the Wolcott 
sons were fond of their home, and yet, as he says else- 
where, " they had all been away from it more than most 
boys." As a matter of fact, Ed never was at home after he 
was sixteen years old except on a visit. His recollections 
of the home-life were, however, most vivid and as pleasing 
as vivid. He seemed to revert to the time spent there with 
more pleasure than to any other period of his varied life. 

FONDNESS FOR PARENTS 

Ed was his father's boy. 

That [said one of his sisters, writing to the author] was 
always his position in the family — and I never knew of any 
one's resenting it. Mother told me once, of father's coming 
home from the funeral of a child in Belchertown and telling her 
that the child had been the flower of the family, and that its loss 
meant what it would mean to them " to lose Ed." Mother said 
it was her first intimation that he did not regard all the children 
alike. [She adds interestingly:] By the time my remembrance 
begins, Henry had come to hold the same place with mother that 
Ed did with father. She said that when they were boys, and 
there was an errand to be done, while the others were discuss- 
ing whose turn it was, Henry would go and do it. 

But if especial interest was manifested for the son by 
the father, the attachment between the son and the mother 
was none the less sincere and touching. 

Dr. Wolcott was a man of accurate knowledge of the 
affairs of the world, and if his education and early inclina- 




Mrs. Harriet Pope Wolcott, 
Mother of Senator Wolcott. 



CHARACTERISTICS 565 

tion had not placed him in the pulpit, he would have found 
most congenial employment in other walks of life. His 
son had the opinion that he would have been a superb 
lawyer. If he entertained ambitions for secular activity, 
they were subordinate to his clerical calling; but be that 
as it may, it is certain that from the first he held them 
for his third son. He never ceased to urge him to the ut- 
most endeavor in preparing himself for high attainment. 

If Ed " went wrong " the father was quick to administer 
rebuke; but he was just as prompt in awarding praise for 
worthy conduct, and in this watchfulness there was a con- 
stant expression of interest and of hope for the future. Many 
sacrifices were made and much effort exerted in the in- 
terest of his ambition for the boy. As from early youth 
Ed was almost constantly absent from home this interest 
involved much correspondence, and many long letters of 
counsel and advice were the necessary product. Occasion- 
ally we find Ed's love of fun breaking over all barriers and 
pricking the armor of the parent, but underneath the sur- 
face there ever was a substantial love which failed never 
in finding vent when there was reason for its expression. 
Not only did he feel a deep natural affection for his father, 
but his respect for his parent's superior knowledge and his 
gratitude for his help were very marked. He relied upon 
the elder in many matters and never appealed in vain. Of 
a grateful disposition, he did all in his power to avoid dis- 
appointing the parental expectation, and there is no doubt 
that in his earlier career the spur of the father was quite 
as important a factor in determining the young man's career 
as was his own ambition. Indeed, we find him writing home 
in 1880 and saying that he had been pleased to achieve a 
reputation as a public speaker only on account of Dr. Wol- 
cott's interest in him, and adding that with that accom- 
plished he desired to quit public life. 

Did his father consent to his quitting? By no means. 
So long as he lived, he did not fail to urge the son to fresh 
endeavor. Indeed, there never was a time up to the father's 
death in 1886 that he was not a constant support and en- 
courager of the son. Through their letters they were a help 
one to the other — the son as critic and censor; the father 



566 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

as whip and spur and general counsellor. They resembled 
each other in physical traits and possessed many similar 
mental characteristics. 

It is no small tribute to the strength and loftiness of 
Dr. Wolcott's character that his son, who had gone out 
from home at the age of sixteen and who had formed habits 
and associations that were at variance with his father's 
manner of life, should yet retain throughout his career, both 
in public life and in business, an unfaltering loyalty to the 
high ideals which from his earliest youth the father had 
held before him. 

Many letters on both sides attest the comradeship of 
father and son, but the following extracts in addition to 
those already given must suffice in this connection. 

October 9, 1876, Ed wrote : 

" I cannot bear to have you feel that you are growing 
old, for to me you have always seemed the same. I could 
see no difference in you during my last visit home and the 
old Providence days when we lived on High Street and I 
first began to know you intelligently." 

And in September, 1877, after a visit by Dr. Wolcott to 
his sons in Colorado: 

" Excuse me for not having written before ; it has not 
been for lack of filial affection, for that has been renewed and 
strengthened a thousand times by your visit and mother's, 
but solely because I haven't had time." 

Again in September, 1880: 

" I was more pleased than I can tell you to find your 
long letter awaiting my return. It is a good many montlis 
or years since you've written me such a letter, and it is 
a kind you would feel repaid for writing if you knew how 
much good it does the recipient." 

And, more expressive still, the letter to the mother after 
his selection for the Senate three years after Dr. Wolcott's 
death. " If father were only alive! " he said. 

As tlie time of young Wolcott's absence from home length- 
ened there naturally was a falling off in letters, and while 
he did not himself write as frequently as he might have 
done, he felt keenly any neglect on the part of the home 



• 




Dr. .Samuel Wolcott, 
Father of Senator Wolcott. 



CHAKACTEKISTICS 567 

folks. His letters are replete with confessions of his own neg- 
ligence and equally full of upbraidings of parents and sisters 
and brothers. The following, to the father, of December 
12, 1883, after Ed had established himself and was prosper- 
ous in Denver, was one of a series of letters to the family, 
but is in a strain somewhat different from others: 

Since I have been away from home, now nineteen years, there 
has never been a time, except during one season of my George- 
town life, when you have not written me about once a month. I 
have received but one letter from you since last April. If there 
is no reason why you do not write, except that it has happened 
so, I can feel equably about it; but if there is a reason, or if 
you have lost any of the interest in me you used to feel, then 
1 shall feel very badly. I know of nothing that could render 
me more unhappy. Will you please write and tell me before 
the year ends? 

It is a pleasure to record the father's response, which 
came promptly and which hinted at a tenderness of feeling 
which was not fully revealed. Writing from Cleveland on 
the 17th of the same December, Dr. Wolcott explained that 
his failure to write had been due to his absence from home, 
and added: 

Your favor of the 12th instant reached me this morning; and 
I regret (and yet do not regret) the delay which has occasioned 
it. I welcome the proof which it furnishes that you prize so 
much an occasional letter from home; while I am sorry that 
you should harbor for a moment the thought that there has 
been any loss of interest in or affection for you at this end of the 
line. I am reminded of a Sabbath morning in the country years 
ago, when I was visiting the churches, and was alone in my 
study — an experience which I have never spoken of, and will 
not now revive. I loved you then when I felt anxious for you, 
and certainly do not love you less now that a kind Providence 
has lifted my most pressing anxieties. 

You have not only done better than I hoped in my anxious 
moods, but better than I anticipated in my most hopeful mo- 
ments. You are apt to write depreciatingly of yourself and 
your performances ; but your success appears to us to have been 
phenomenal. It strikes us that you have the highest possible 



568 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

incentives to diligence and to faithfulness; I can think of no 
desirable attainment or position which does not seem to be 
within your reach. 

Mr. Wolcott's love for his mother was especially tender 
after the father's death, and no opportunity was lost to 
show the feeling. Frequently during his service in the Sen- 
ate he would go to Longmeadow on Friday night in order 
to spend the following Saturday and Sunday with her. Mr. 
David S. Barry, of Washington, one of Mr. Wolcott's Wash- 
ington newspaper friends, relates this anecdote illustrative 
of Mr. Wolcott's interest in his mother : 

Down at the bottom Mr. Wolcott was of a gentle as well as 
of a modest nature, although as a rule these qualifications were 
very successfully concealed. When he first came to the Senate 
the correspondent of a Boston newspaper wrote a letter about 
him which was most flattering. Later the Senator asked a news- 
paper friend to get a copy of it for him and wrote a note to the 
author thanking him for his courteous consideration. " There 's 
not much truth in your article," the Senator said ; " but I 
know it will please my dear old mother up in Massachusetts, 
and that after all is the important point." 

The mother gave constant evidence of her great fond- 
ness for her brilliant son, but no expression is more char- 
acteristic of her than the following letter to Henry, written 
November 17, 1888, a few days after the result of the election 
of that year was made known : 

I have not congratulated you by letter, though I have often 
in my thoughts, on the result of the election in Colorado. I 
suppose it makes Ed's election comparatively sure, does it not? 
To be the mother of a United States Senator is an honor, of 
which I had not dreamed until very recently, and I can hardly 
believe it possible now. I have not written to him, but have 
hoped he would find time to write a line to me, though I kndw 
he must have much to absorb his time and thoughts. 

Not the least interesting fact connected with the letter 
is that notwithstanding it refers to Ed it is addressed to 



CHARACTERISTICS 569 

Henry. Mrs. Wolcott knew the two sons and knew that 
the triumph was quite as much Henry's as it was Ed's, as 
in reality it was. She accomplished a double purpose in 
writing to Henry. 

We have heard something of Mr. Wolcott's tendency to 
despondency. He recognized it in himself and regarded it 
as a hereditary trait, varying from time to time in his 
opinion as to which side of the house it was derived from. 
The following from a letter to his mother dated at George- 
town, June 7, 1876, is a specimen expression on the point : 

Court is in session. I have but little to do in it this term, 
but am a steady looker on. Business is not exactly brisk, but I 
am well and happy in the hope that it will some day be better. 
The elasticity of spirits with which some of your children are 
endowed, comes I think from father. I have always had the 
impression that you were somewhat inclined to be rather 
despondent. I am, sometimes, but it doesn't last long; perhaps 
it would be better if it lasted longer, but we are what we are, 
and there are many traits that nothing can change. 

Writing to his mother again in December of that year, 
concerning a matter of mutual interest, he broke off ab- 
ruptly and remarked : " And this reminds me, mother, that 
you are a little disposed, and have been ever since I first 
had the pleasure of knowing you, now some years since, to 
look somehow on the gloomy side; — don't you think so?" 

Quite a contrary view was, however, expressed in a letter 
to his mother, written from Denver in 1884, in which he 
said: 

" Happiness in this world depends very little on success, 
but is almost wholly a matter of temperament, and I hope 
Bert has inherited his mother's disposition, and has not been 
afflicted, as some of us have, with the gloomy and morbid 
and misanthropic tendencies which some unhappy old Wol- 
cott bequeathed to his posterity." 

OBSERVANCE OF BIRTHDAYS 

Birthdays were ever events of moment in the Wolcott 
family, and there always was trouble for the one who over- 



570 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

looked Ed's anniversary. But if he expected a recognition 
of his natal day he did not forget those of others, and he 
was especially punctilious about his mother's. 

As early as 1862, we find Mrs. Wolcott writing to her 
husband and mentioning the fact that the letter was written 
on Ed's fourteenth birthday. She seemed then to think that 
he was getting to be quite old, and appeared disposed to 
moralize over that fact. A letter from her written to him 
on his twenty-third anniversary has been preserved. The 
date was March 26, 1871. Here it is: 

These anniversaries always carry me back to the years and 
scenes of the past. I remember very distinctly the day of your 
birth (it was the Sabbath), and many occurrences of your in- 
fancy and childhood. How full of mother's pride and hope my 
heart was in those days, and so it still is, only subdued and chast- 
ened by time and experience. If my hopes have not all been 
realized, my Heavenly Father's kindness has been very great to 
me, and I am, I trust, truly grateful. 

Twenty-three years ! A large section of our brief lives. And 
yet it does not seem a long time to look back upon. How soon 
these passing years will bring us to the close of our lives! Our 
great concern should be to improve wisely those that remain, 
and may the number of yours be many, my son, and that the 
Lord may bless you in them all, and make you a blessing to 
others is the sincere prayer of your affectionate mother. 

Ed appears not to have received this letter as early as 
he should have, for we find him writing to a sister a few 
days after its date and complaining that no one had taken 
notice of his birthday. The letter to the sister shows a 
sense of light humor, which, if cultivated, would certainly 
have brought him a reputation in that direction. Here is 
the letter : 

Cambridge, April 3, 1871. 
Dear Sister: 

When my birthday came a week ago, and nobody said any- 
thing about it here, and no letter came to me from anywhere or 
anybody, and I found that everybody had forgotten all about it, 
] came to the conclusion that it was because I was so old. You 
know some people get so old that they and everybody else forget 



CHARACTERISTICS 571 

how old they are, and all anybody knows about them is that 
they are like 

" The Polar Star- 
Always thar." 

And I thought of going to see an old darkey who lives here 
in Cambridge, who does n't just remember whether he is one hun- 
dred and forty or tico hundred and forty and who remembers 
all about the flood and how Noah 

" Led in the animals three by three, 
The elephant and the bumble-bee," 

and of asking him if he did n't remember the divine and after- 
ward the poet " which his name was Dr. Wolcott," and how in 
the year '48, either 1748 or 1848, he became the father of a 
beautiful infant, and Edward was his name. 

But in a day or two your letter came and with it a real 
pretty present, and then I knew I was n't old enough yet to 
be forgotten. 

In place of his signature a photograph of himself, of 
thumb-nail size, was pasted on the end of the sheet. 

That he had not been " forgotten " his mother's and his 
sister's letters, and probably other letters from other mem- 
bers of the family, would, of course, have been sufficient to 
reassure him, if he had needed reassurance, which he did not. 

Two touching letters from the son to the mother, grow- 
ing out of the birthday observance, are now available. 
One was written from Denver on June 29, 1884, the mother's 
sixty-third birthday, and the other from Washington, March 
26, 1897, when he was forty-nine and had been eight years 
in the Senate. 

In the first of these letters he says: 

I spent an hour at Kittie's. We were talking of home and 
of you, when Anna reminded me that it was your birthday. I 
have usually recalled the date, but this year the day would have 
passed without my remembering it. I write home rarely, and 
am punished by not having frequent letters. Years ago when 
we were all little ones, everybody's birthday was celebrated in 



572 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

a quiet fashion, and yours among the rest, and now that we 
are all grown older we ought still to keep them in mind. I 
doD't believe you feel as old these days as I do. 

Then he dealt with other subjects, but returning to his 
mother's anniversary, concluded by touchingly saying: 

I am glad you are so well this summer. I wish I could be with 
you to-night. I 'd give you sixty-three pats on the shoulder, but 
they should all be love pats and very light, and I would kiss 
you good-night as I used to. I don't have the opportunity often 
now, but when bedtime comes, after all these years, I frequently 
think that it is time to " kiss mother good-night." And you 
think of us all, don't you? 

The pertinent portion of the letter of 1897 follows: 

It is my forty-ninth birthday. My first thought this morn- 
ing was of you, and I do not want the day to pass without my 
writing you of the grateful memories I have always of you. 
I think as we grow older we dwell more constantly on our youth- 
ful days, and as I recall mine, I have no recollection of you 
that is not a precious one. Somehow it seemed to me from your 
last letter that you were not quite as well as usual. I trust you 
are getting all right again. I am coming soon to see you. My 
own plans are somewhat uncertain. Confidentially, the Presi- 
dent wants me to go abroad again on the International Money 
Question. I am also one of the sub-committee of four members 
of the Finance Committee having charge of the Tariff Bill, and 
we are having hearings constantly, and the days are not half 
long enough to finish each day's work. As soon as I can tell 
definitely what I shall do, I will write you. 

ATTACHMENT FOR HENRY 

Of Mr. Wolcott's brothers, Henry unquestionably was 
the favorite, but his letters abound in expressions of deep 
affection for all of them. With the eldest brother Samuel 
he early in life entered into a compact for a constant ex- 
change of letters, and while the agreement appears not to 
have been very scrupulously observed by either of the parties 
to it, still there was sufficient communication to show a 
deep mutual interest. Will, next younger than himself, was 



CHARACTERISTICS 573 

his playmate and companion when the two were at home, 
and they were warm friends. Later in life he looked to 
Will as he did to his father as a critic and counsellor in 
his rhetorical productions. Herbert, who was fifteen years 
his junior, was the subject of his constant interest and deep 
concern. His letters contain many expressions of tender 
solicitude for him, and when he grew to manhood he took 
him into his law office at Denver. His sisters also were the 
subjects of his unfeigned affection. From the time that he 
and Henry became established in Colorado, some of the young 
ladies were with them almost constantly. Miss Katherine 
found there a husband in Hon. Charles H. Toll, who was 
Attorney-General of the State, and afterward, until his un- 
timely death, a successful lawyer there. Miss Harriet was 
married in Denver to Frederick O. Vaille and after remain- 
ing there for a time removed to Massachusetts. Later they 
returned to Denver and have continued to reside in that city. 
Miss Anna located in the State and made a place of her 
own as the head of the popular " Miss Wolcott School " of 
Denver. Whether in Colorado as visitors or as residents, 
the presence of the sisters was a source of gratification to 
both brothers, as Ed's letters abundantly express. 

It would be quite impossible to present an adequate bi- 
ography of Ed Wolcott without multiplied references to his 
brother Henry. They were constant chums and companions, 
and the lives of both were full of acts of devotion on the 
part of each toward the other. As we have seen, Ed was 
indebted to Henry for encouragement and guidance through- 
out his entire life. Indeed, it is not too much to say that 
without Henry his career would have been much more diffi- 
cult of achievement than it was. Henry loved Ed as few 
brothers ever have been loved. He found the greatest pleas- 
ure of his life in the younger man's success while the latter 
lived, and after his death his memory became the subject of 
his constant care. 

Sturdy, strong, and immovable, Henry was ever in sharp 
contrast with his volatile, buoyant, and irrepressible brother. 
Ed Wolcott always was pugnacious enough and always 
strong enough, even from his early years, to take care of 
himself; but if he had needed a defender Henry would have 



574 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

been found acting in that capacity, and, while not called 
upon to serve in this way, he did play the part of counsellor 
and adviser, and always effectively. The more deliberate 
and conservative of the two, he was more cautious in 
avoiding " scrapes," and probably wiser in finding a way 
out of them. But, whatever the call in Ed's interest, 
Henry was ever ready to respond to it. Nor is it in- 
tended to imply that this good-will and this service were 
not reciprocated. From first to last Ed regarded Henry 
as a mentor and supporter whose judgment was better 
and whose aid more to be desired than the judgment and 
assistance of any other person. When at the front during 
the war, and afterward while at college, we find the younger 
brother making constant inquiries concerning the where- 
abouts and the welfare of his senior. For a boy, he mani- 
fested deep concern regarding Henry's first business venture, 
which was entered upon in Chicago soon after he left the 
army. So when, later, Henry turned his faculties to the 
development of the mineral resources of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, and sought to establish himself there, as he most effec- 
tively did, we again find in Ed his most ardent admirer, as 
he was the most zealous prophet of his success. 

We have seen how Henry assisted Ed when he first went 
to Colorado, and the constant help of all kinds that he gave 
afterward constitutes a theme too delicate for detailed 
narration. It is a well-known fact that Henry was Ed's 
chief supporter in politics, and that to the brother more 
than to all others he owed his ultimate elevation to the 
Senate. Already a letter from Ed to his father has been 
quoted expressing his gratitude to Henry for his help in 
1880, when he first entertained aspiration for a national 
career. After his election to the Senate in 1889, he gave 
public expression to the same feeling when in his speech to 
the Legislature, with moistened eye and voice on the verge 
of breaking, he said: "Nobody knows as I do what a 
brother's constancy means." In fact, they demonstrated at 
all times the truth of Solomon's proverb : " A friend loveth 
at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." Each ever 
was to the other the loving friend, the brother in adversity. 

As illustrative of the fondness of Henry and Ed for each 



CHARACTERISTICS 575 

other, a Denver friend recalls a characteristic instance. It 
occurred at the residence of a lady on a New Year's day, 
probably in the early eighties, when the social practice of 
making general New Year's calls was in vogue. The two 
brothers had been together all day, and had called at many 
places. When they arrived at the residence of this particular 
lady, they met a number of acquaintances, many of them 
ladies. These were, of course, properly greeted by the two 
brothers; but they had not been in the house ten minutes 
when they were found sitting together in a corner convers- 
ing as earnestly and as interestedly as if they had not seen 
each other for a year. The incident is recalled as a proof 
that they found in the society of each other more than they 
did in that of others. They seemed never to tire of the closest 
association, and they lived together from year to year with 
ever increasing mutual regard. 

As they advanced side by side in Colorado, they were 
closely connected in many business transactions. Until 
Ed's membership in the Senate set them somewhat in dif- 
ferent grooves, they knew each other's affairs intimately. 
Each felt free to commit the other to any enterprise, and 
whenever they were separated, even though it were by the 
width of the continent, each sent to the other a daily tele- 
gram touching on all matters that the day had brought 
before him. Indeed, there was no time so long as Ed lived 
that they were not the most intimate friends, the fondest 
companions, the most affectionate brothers. 

INTEREST IN SISTERS 

Of all the Wolcott sisters, Miss Clara was most at home, 
and there are many references to her in Edward's letters. 
He seemed to remember with especial gratitude that she 
had been a friend to him when he especially needed friends, 
when she was six and he eighteen. They were both staying 
with Grandfather Pope in Norwich. " I imagine the atti- 
tude of the household was rather severely critical toward 
the lively boy and that the presence of the uncritical child 
was a good deal of a solace," she says, and adds : "I do 
not remember the time, but my brother referred to it almost 



576 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

every time I ever saw him." Evidently, the experience ap- 
pealed strongly to his sense of gratitude, which we have 
seen was ever strong. When he grew to manhood, he be- 
stowed upon her, as upon all his sisters, every favor that 
a prosperous and generous older brother could bestow. 

When the health of one of the young ladies became im- 
paired, he was most solicitous for her welfare, and urged 
every reasonable remedy upon her. This occurred while 
he was in Europe giving attention to the work of the 
bimetallic campaign in 1897, when, busy as he was, he 
wrote her an eight-page, closely lined letter, advising her 
as to the various resorts in America and Europe, closing 
with an urgent entreaty to try the foreign ones and volun- 
teering to pay all the expenses. The letter was full of de- 
tailed information concerning the various " cures," and 
would be a splendid handbook on this subject. The follow- 
ing extract from the letter, throwing light on a historic 
period, should interest: 

Personally, I fear I can be of little or no service to you 
on this side of the water, as my plans are so absolutely un- 
certain and not under my control. I go from here on Friday to 
Marseilles to meet some French bimetallists ; then to London 
where I shall await the answer from the English Ministry. Then 
I shall either go home, or to France or to Germany. My work 
is engrossing in interest, and far the most important I have 
ever attempted, and these are anxious days. 

He was especially concerned about the health of his 
sisters while at college, and frequently admonished them 
against too close application to their studies. To one of 
them, after he was well established in Denver, he wrote: 

" Don't study too hard. If you have a real good time, 
you will look back upon your college course with a good 
deal of pleasure, even if you don't know all the Greek and 
mathematics in the world." 

And in similar vein to another: 

Henry has told me how much you enjoy college life. I find 
that college recollections are about the pleasantest of all. But 



CHARACTERISTICS 577 

I want to suggest one thing to you, and I do it in all serious- 
ness: don't study too hard. You won't remember anything you 
learn after five years anyway, and, if I were you, I would try 
to make the time pass as pleasantly as possible, and not spend 
too much time on my books. It is a splendid thing to stand 
well in your class, but it has its drawbacks. 

PREFERENCE FOR NEW ENGLAND 

For one who loved his people as Ed did, he was at 
home very little. Indeed, never after he enlisted to go to 
the war in 1864, when he was sixteen, did he see much 
of the family. After returning from his army service, he 
spent two years in school, and then went into business. 
Without returning home to remain any length of time, he 
began his law studies in 1869, and as soon as he received 
his degree from the Harvard law school, he transferred his 
abode to Colorado, where he maintained residence until his 
death. 

A younger sister, writing of him when at home, says : 

Ed was full of life and fun, and I remember his visits home 
as occasions when everything was stirred up, and we all had 
a good time. I was very fond of him and very proud of him in 
those days, but as a younger sister in a very large family I was 
not on especially intimate terms with him, and it seems to me 
that within my recollection he never lived at home. . . . The 
humdrum and matter-of-fact tone of the life at home was always 
dissipated by Ed's appearance on the scene. He was decidedly 
a tease, but in a good-natured way, which left no sting. 

Yet, long as he was away from the parental roof, he 
always dreamed of a return to it, and he especially longed 
to establish himself in New England. It probably will be 
a surprise to most people to learn that Colorado was not 
Mr. Wolcott's preferred place of residence. But such is the 
fact. Proud as he was of the State of his adoption, his 
strongly sensuous nature found more satisfaction in the 
verdure of the New England landscape than in the un- 
dulating plains and rugged mountains of the far West. 



578 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Moreover, he enjoyed the refinement of the New England 
civilization more than he did the crudities of the then un- 
developed West. Quotations are given in support of these 
statements, but they should not be too seriously considered. 
In weighing his expressions on the subject, allowance must 
be made for the conditions under which they were uttered. 
Engaged as he was in politics, and political leader that he 
was, there was little repose for him in Colorado, where his 
activities were exerted. The parental home offered solace 
and quiet, and naturally all New England, far removed from 
solicitous follower or hungry constituent, seemed a haven 
of refuge. It also should be remembered that he was 
writing to the " home folks," and doubtless his interest in 
the East was tinged with a longing to see them. But, be the 
reasons what they may, it is undeniable that his preference 
was for New England, and especially for Massachusetts, as 
a place of residence, and he was delighted when in 1884, 
after an absence of more than a third of a century, and 
through his brother Henry's generosity, the family again 
found themselves established at Longmeadow. 

From the time of his first location in Colorado, Mr. Wol- 
cott was engaged in expressing longing for the State of his 
birth. In 1874, this feeling took shape in the following 
letter to his parents : 

Georgetown is very quiet, but is becoming more prosperous 
every season. It will never be a large place, but with the excep- 
tions of portions of Nevada, it undoubtedly contains in its vicinity 
the best and richest silver mines in the country. A man who at- 
tends to business here ought to make a comfortable fortune in 
ten or fifteen years. I hope to do this and then move back to 
New England, the only civilized section in the United States. 
1 would rather live in Boston, I think, than anywhere else in 
the world. I wish father would get a call to some Eastern 
church, even if it is a small one and in some quiet village. 

To a sister, Mr. Wolcott wrote from Denver, April 17, 

1881: 

"For the last month I have been wanting to go East, 
and have been hoping to get away, but it looks as if it would 
be impossible. I almost envy you the delightful summer 



CHARACTERISTICS 579 

that is just commencing around Northampton, and the 
glimpses you have of the broad Connecticut." 
And to his mother on November 18, 1884 : 
"Winter commenced in earnest yesterday. Until then 
we had had a month of Indian summer. Business is good. 
I work pretty hard, but don't seem to accomplish much. Our 
mine looks promising again, but is n't vet paying a profit 
I am considering the advisability of saving my money, get- 
ting rich, and moving East. Is n't it a good idea? " 

Many similar expressions are found. In one letter he 
wanted to practise his profession in Boston; in the next' his 
fancy ran to a country home, when for the moment he rev- 
elled in the thought of becoming a tiller of the soil; in a 
third, he would be located in a quiet New England village 
where the world would be without excitement, and life 
beautiful, peaceful, quiet. Vain human hope ! Vain at least 
for a man engaged in Western politics and immersed in the 
cares of the world. Once in an after-dinner speech, he 
spoke of Heaven as a place where the New Engenders were 
to sing the solos and other portions of mankind were to 
be permitted only to join in the chorus. But that was a 
speech to New Englanders only and was not without its 
vein of sarcasm. 

FAMILY HOME AT LONGMEADOW 

When the family left Longmeadow, as they did soon after 
Eds birth m 1848, they were possessed of only moderate 
means; but now that the two brothers had so prospered in the 
^est, the parents were enabled to live in a way which was 
much more becoming their station as members of one of the 
oldest and best of New England connections. A splendid man- 
sion was erected for them by Henry, and he and Ed combined 
to make it a home indeed for the rapidly-aging parents and 
tor their sisters and younger brothers. It should also be 
stated that both Dr. and Mrs. Wolcott had inherited prop- 
erty and that, while the two brothers did a great deal to 
promote the luxury of life, the other members of the family 
were by no means dependent upon them. 

How the establishment of this permanent abode was re- 



580 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

garded by the parents may be inferred from the following 
letter from Mrs. Wolcott to her son, written from Cleveland 
in October, 1883, after the return to Longmeadow was 
definitely decided upon. 

It seems very strange to me [she wrote] that I should be 
going back to the spot to live where just forty years ago I 
went, a bride. The sad fact about it is that those who received 
me so kindly then, and endeared themselves to me, have all 
passed away. Instead of the fathers are the children. But the 
place is associated with some of the pleasantest memories of 
my life, not least of which is the birth and childhood of three of 
my children. It seems to me a kind Providence that is leading us 
back to that quiet spot for the evening of our days. God grant 
that the pleasant anticipations may be realized! 

The new home appealed strongly to Edward. In June, 
1884, very soon after the removal, he wrote his mother : 

"What is father doing? Still planting trees? If he 
only holds on to his present fancies, Longmeadow will be an 
elysium for him. The house will be a pleasant one, and if 
there is no malaria to make Clara miserable, it ought to be 
a happy home for us all. I am sure that I shall see much 
more of you than if you continued to live at Cleveland." 

On the previous January 2d, before the change had oc- 
curred, he had written more at length regarding it. In that 
letter he gave his fancy wider range concerning his own 
future. Then he said: 

I think this is the first time I have written the number of 
the New Year. I wish you happiness all through it; and I sin- 
cerely believe that the return to New England is going to bring 
a new lease of years and happiness, and that we who live in 
Colorado will share in the result, though we can visit home but 
rarely. 

There is no such commonwealth as Massachusetts, unless it 
be her neighbor Connecticut, and there is surely no pleasanter 
village than Longmeadow. I had intended to go East this winter, 
but have been compelled to abandon the trip and have about 
made up my mind to wait until next summer and then take 
a good long vacation, and spend it in driving through parts of 
New England, more especially the towns about Longmeadow. 






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CHARACTERISTICS 581 

We had a very quiet day yesterday; the girls received, and 
I think enjoyed the day. I suppose Henry wrote you that we 
had sold the house. We are going to move into a much more 
comfortable one. We shall have one or two guest-chambers, and 
when father wants to give his Pegasus another rest we shall 
be glad to see him here again, although I hope he won't wait for 
that time before coming. I hope we shall not have to move 
again while we live in Denver, which won't be very many years, 
I trust. 

The only people who get the good out of life are the tillers 
of the soil, and if this quarrelsome profession of mine will only 
yield me enough to buy a modest farm in Massachusetts, you 
will see me there. 

June 29, 1884, he wrote his mother asking her " what 
sort of farmer " she thought he would make, and added: 

" I often feel as if I would like to go back to New 
England, and settle down in the country somewhere." 

Doubtless his desire for an Eastern country home had 
been aroused by the example set by his brother-in-law, Fred- 
erick Vaille, who for a time lived on a place owned by him 
in historic Lexington. Writing, half seriously and half jest- 
ingly, to his mother, in November, 1884, about Mr. Vaille's 
venture, Mr. Wolcott said: 

Bert showed me yesterday a letter from you written at Lex- 
ington. Isn't Fred's place fine? If I were to choose a farm 
anywhere, and were willing to be away from the sea or from 
running water, I could select no pleasanter home. I never hear 
from Fred or Hattie except occasionally through the letters of 
some of the family who are visiting them ; but I 'm not entitled 
to hear, for I don't write. I still think Fred should follow out 
the suggestion I made him, of scattering about the place a few 
old musket balls and skulls. They will be ploughed up in a 
few years, will be placed among the Revolutionary relics at Lex- 
ington, and will add to the value of the estate. Won't you speak 
to him about it? 

WHERE COLORADO " COMES IN " 

The words of one who was so much the creature of 
mood and impulse must not always be taken implicitly at 



582 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

their face value when he is speaking only to intimates; 
and it is not surprising if, along with these expressions 
of admiration and devotion for New England, we find 
others equally as ardent in favor of Colorado, the home 
of his adoption. In many of his letters he made boastful 
reference to the new State, and he delivered few speeches 
in which there was not some allusion to it. Often, indeed, 
Colorado was his principal theme. It was his unquestion- 
able intention to reside at Wolhurst as long as he might 
live, as his letters to Judge Kent and to others testify. His 
glowing eulogies of the Centennial State in his two New 
England Day orations are given elsewhere, and bear eloquent 
testimony to his intense loyalty toward and pride in it. 
That it was his intention to make his home in Colorado 
after his retirement from the Senate was announced 
frequently both publicly and privately. In an interview 
printed in the Denver Republican in 1900, he referred to 
the necessity of returning to Washington to complete his 
term in the Senate and added: 

I shall then return to Colorado, where I have lived for thirty 
years, and which is the only home I have ever known. I shall 
resume here the practice of my profession. Everything I have 
or hope for, all my interests, all my associations, are centred 
in the State; I shall live here until I die. 

After such tributes as these, surely no others are neces- 
sary, but there are a few so strong that they cannot in jus- 
tice be withheld, and they are here given. 

Of his high hopes for Colorado we find splendid expres- 
sion even in his Denver speech of October 23, 1880, the first 
of his published addresses. 

Colorado [he said, in closing that address] is the youngest, the 
latest-born, the Centennial State. She brings to the Union 
youthful blood and fresh devotion to liberty. Do you not 
know that in all ages the mountains have been the haunts and 
homes of Liberty? Thwarted and defeated on the plains, she 
has ever sought refuge in mountain fastnesses, and there hurled 
defiance at her foes. The hill-country of Judea, the highlands of 
Scotland, and the summits of Switzerland have once and again 



CHARACTERISTICS 583 

borne witness to this scene. Our whole country, hill and valley 
and plain, consecrated by a fresh baptism of blood, will, we 
trust, be loyal to those principles which our fathers sealed with 
their life's blood a hundred years ago. But should there be 
wavering elsewhere, there must be no faltering here. The heights 
on which we dwell are consecrated forever to liberty. 

" We are watchers of a beacon 
Whose lights can never die; 
We are guardians of an altar 
'Midst the silence of the sky." 

At the Republican State Convention at Denver, Sep- 
tember 15, 1898, he said : 

Colorado, my friends, was settled by the best crowd of people 
that ever lived. They came out here, and have been coming 
for the last thirty years, from the New England States, from 
New York, Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota — splendid citi- 
zens, starting out after the war, prompted by that restlessness 
which came when so many officers and soldiers were mustered 
out, and seeking to find some new fields for their industry. It 
has been followed up by as splendid and fine and intelligent a 
population as ever settled a State. You go into the mining 
camps of the State, and you find more college graduates and in- 
telligent men in proportion to the population than you find any- 
where else in the United States. We have resources that no 
other State in the Union has. There is not a single piece of 
land on the footstool that has more mineral resources than 
Colorado has, including gold and silver. We have more coal 
than the State of Pennsylvania. Our oil-fields and our iron 
deposits, together with other resources, make this the richest land 
ever kissed by God's sunshine. Everything conspires to make 
Colorado the most fruitful and the most prosperous and the 
most splendid State in the Union. 

At the Colorado State Republican Convention, May 11, 
1900: 

Colorado has more at stake in this great question than any 
of the commonwealths of the Union. There is no area of land 
of the same size in the whole world of equal richness. The 
young men before me to-day, before they die, will see the popu- 



584 EDWARD OLIVER WOLOOTT 

lation of Colorado counted by millions where it is now counted 
by hundreds of thousands. Our great plains and valleys will 
furnish the meat and the food and the grain for mankind. The 
coal from our inexhaustible mines will feed the furnaces of 
the world and speed her iron ships. The iron from our mines, 
rolled out by our great mills, will supply the rails that will 
open up countries that are yet unexplored and undreamed 
of. Our mines of gold and silver will furnish a circulating 
medium for the world and all its nations. 

Voicing the same thought he expressed himself thus in 
an interview in 1901: 

The next few years mean so much to Colorado ! This Republic 
has become one of the great world nations, destined to share in 
the solution of the vast problems of civilization all over the 
globe. We have reached such a plane of prosperity as the most 
hopeful of us never dreamed of twenty -five years ago. And we 
are only at the threshold of our possibilities. Colorado, with 
her limitless resources, can contribute more to the general sum 
of prosperity than any commonwealth in the Union. 

At the Lincoln celebration of the Colorado Republican 
Club in 1904, the last speech but one that he made, he said : 

I feel myself fitted to respond for Colorado. There is not 
out of doors, anywhere under the canopy of Heaven, a piece of 
ground like it, or as rich as it is. Everything that would grow 
anywhere is within our soil. There is not an acre of land in 
the State that water can reach that if you would tickle it with 
the hoe, but would bear the harvest. There is not a cereal or 
a vegetable that would not grow more to the acre here than 
elsewhere. We have more coal in Colorado than has ever yet 
been developed and produced, or in prospect, in the great coal 
State of Pennsylvania; we have inexhaustible deposits of iron 
and of all the base metals, and we have the precious metals 
of every kind, and from one end of the State to the other, wait- 
ing for the industry of the prospector. These we have, and, 
unlike most States, we do not carry all our goods on the counter. 
We have hidden in the recesses of the mountains for the 
children yet unborn wealth for them, and in the centuries to 
come it will be seen that we have but to grub at the surface 
and there is waiting for the generations that are to follow us 
wealth beyond the dreams of avarice. 



CHARACTERISTICS 585 

HOME OF HIS OWN 

Notwithstanding he lived the greater part of his mature 
life a bachelor and regardless of the fact that he was a man 
of the world, Mr. Wolcott liked to maintain a house and 
to live at home. Even while a resident of Georgetown, he 
kept up an establishment part of the time, and after he and 
Henry removed to Denver they " kept house " constantly. 
They set up housekeeping largely at Ed's solicitation. It 
is related that Henry only consented to the arrangement on 
condition that Ed would agree to remain at table until the 
serving of the meals should be concluded. His nervous 
energy asserted itself at meal-time as at all other times, 
and it was difficult to hold him to the formalities. Doubt- 
less he promised and probably he broke the promise. Henry 
and Ed were the prime movers in the organization of the 
Denver Club, and were fond of it, but Ed did not live in 
the club-house long at a time. Nor would he accept an office 
in the Club, although frequently solicited to do so. " My 
brother Henry is a good housekeeper," he would say ; " I 
am not; he likes it — I don't; give it to him." Henry was 
the first governor of the Club. 

Early letters from young Wolcott in Colorado contain 
frequent reference to his manner of living. February 1, 
1875, he told his mother: 

" For the past year I have slept in my office ; it has 
been unpleasant, living in one room, and a little one at 
that, all the time, and I have furnished a little sleeping- 
room, and enjoy the change." 

By the end of the year 1876, after he had been chosen 
District Attorney, conditions evidently had improved some- 
what, and on December 16th of that year he wrote : 

I am talking of changing my office and taking a nice little 
house with four rooms, all small, and using two for an office, 
and the other two for sleeping- and dressing-rooms. Then, there 
is a nice cellar under the house, where I can keep my coal-oil 
and bath-tub. It is a little removed from the centre of the 
town, but the rent is reasonable, $30 a month. I am now paying 
$37 for two small rooms an eighth of a mile apart. 



586 EDWAED OLIVER WOLCOTT 

In one of his first letters from Denver, dated November 
30, 1879, written to both his parents, he says : " Henry and 
I are living in quite sumptuous apartments, and my office 
is a particularly pleasant one." 

Again, on May 11, 1882, he speaks of new offices which 
he says " are delightful, or will be when I get them fully 
arranged." In the following extract from the same letter, 
he indicates the style of life of the two brothers: 

I have a scheme: Why cannot father return when Henry 
does, and spend a month with us here? We have room for 
him at our house, and can insure him a good table. I cannot 
promise him any particularly hilarious enjoyment; but, seriously, 
it would gratify me very much if he would come, and I know 
father would enjoy the trip, and I know also it would do him 
good. I have a fair miscellaneous library, and we are so situated 
that his visit would be pleasant to him. 

" I wish," he writes in June, 1884, " you could see the 
house Henry and I live in. It is charming and very comfort- 
able." In his last years he spent much time at the Denver 
residence of his brother Henry, known as " The Paddock," 
which was located in Glenarm Street in that city. 

In Washington Mr. Wolcott lived a part of the time at 
the Arlington Hotel, and much of the remainder of the 
time at 1221 Connecticut Avenue, where he occupied his 
own house and where he maintained a splendid state. 



WOLHURST 

Mr. Wolcott's longing for a country home found expres- 
sion at last in the establishment of a place in Colorado 
which he named Wolhurst, and which is located fourteen 
miles south of Denver, on the Platte River. 

When he bought the place in 1890, it was a ramshackle 
old ranch of two hundred acres, with most of its possibilities 
yet to be developed. It, however, had a grove of great 
cottonwood trees. These had been planted by the original 
owner, Gene Estlack, who had taken up the land in 1859. 



CHARACTERISTICS 587 

Additional purchases brought the area to five hundred 
acres. 

Artesian wells were driven for a water supply. A lake 
was excavated, and extensive grading enlarged the lawn 
space. Trees were planted wherever they could be placed 
to advantage. Among others, two rows of spruce were set 
out to border a driveway, and the driveway was afterward 
changed to a footpath, that the trees might have a better 
chance. Long lines of graceful Lombardy poplars were 
placed along the highway. Wherever attractive shade-trees 
were discovered within available distance, negotiations were 
entered into for their purchase, and among those transplanted 
were two dozen exceptionally fine spruces from the ground 
of the old H. A. W. Tabor mansion in Denver. It cost 
$50 or $60 apiece to remove them. Shrubbery and flower- 
ing plants were obtained from all over the world, many of 
them being brought direct from Japan. 

At the side of the entrance to the grounds stood two 
stone posts, surmounted by carved bulls' heads, modelled 
from the crest of the family coat-of-arms. Conspicuous in the 
grounds were a pair of large totem poles, which had been 
obtained from Alaska by the assistance of Admiral Evans 
and which have been preserved by Henry Wolcott as 
ornaments of his beautiful home at White Plains. A 
space near the house was laid out as a garden in more 
formal fashion. This was adorned with a marble fountain, 
brought from Italy, and with an elaborately carved sun-dial 
on which was inscribed, "What shadows we are; what 
shadows we pursue ! " In the spacious yard there towered 
high above the trees a slender flag-pole, from which the 
Stars and Stripes floated whenever Mr. Wolcott was at 
home, causing facetious, if not envious, neighbors to remark 
that " the Senate was in session." 

The house was designed by T. D. Boal, a skilful artist 
of Denver. It was originally sheathed with rough slabbing, 
but brick was substituted for this. It was not all built at 
one time, but was continually receiving additions and being 
subjected to alterations to meet the demands of the restless 
disposition of the owner. It was a rambling structure, the 
principal parts of it being in the form of a right angle, and 



588 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

much of it only two stories high. Sculptured reliefs and 
other curios, picked up mostly in France, Italy, and Spain, 
were set in the walls here and there. 

The most notable room was the library, about sixty feet 
long with a great fireplace and carved mantel at one end, 
and windows on both sides. Between the windows were 
book-cases, and over them paintings. Among the artists 
represented were many of long-established renown, as well 
as those belonging to later schools. He had portraits by 
Moreelse, Rootius, Sir Godfrey Kneller, and Prud'hon, and 
landscapes by Cotman and Constable. He had also speci- 
mens of Gerome, Weissenbruch, Bloemers, and W. T. 
Richards. But in the later years of his life, when he visited 
Paris more frequently and for longer stays, his taste 
turned more to the French artists, and especially to the 
Impressionists or Luminists. Michel, Thaulow, Pissarro, 
Monet, Boudin, and Sisley were accordingly among those 
who were represented on his walls. 

His taste in books was inclusive. His Wolhurst shelves 
contained all the standard authors in history, poetry, and 
belles-lettres, and many of them in rare editions and fine 
bindings. It was no mere " gentleman's library," bought 
by the yard and intended to look well upon the shelves. 
On the last page of each of many of the books would be 
found his autograph with the date and place, when and 
where, he had finished the reading of it. He had also a 
fancy for extra-illustrated books, and he owned many and 
costly specimens. 

His study adjoined the library, and here were kept most 
of his books of reference. The walls of this room were 
adorned with photographs, chiefly of his associates in the 
Senate, and these generally contained autograph inscrip- 
tions. The billiard-room was close at hand, where it was 
convenient to run in and pick up a cue when one had only 
a moment to spare. The dining-room connected with a sunny 
breakfast-room, and that with a series of sun-parlors, 
straggling on one after the other. 

All of the lower floor was fitted with Oriental rugs and 
with comfortable and curious bits of furniture, and with 
a profusion of odd bits of bric-^-brac. Here and in the 



CHARACTERISTICS 589 

thirty bedrooms of the second floor was a great array of 
framed pictures, oil and water-color paintings, etchings, en- 
gravings, often old and scarce, and photographs of works 
of art. He had a collection of pictures of famous men, 
mostly artists and authors, many of them unusual, which 
were generally framed in groups, and it was a favorite pas- 
time among the guests to see who could identify the greatest 
number of these. 

Wolhurst was the source of much pleasure to its owner, 
and his life there developed many of his most charming 
characteristics. He sought to make the place attractive in 
every way. He was a sincere friend of the birds and of 
all inoffensive wild creatures. It is a fact not generally 
known, but still a fact, that he introduced into Colorado 
the Mongolian pheasant, a fowl of rare plumage. He im- 
ported three or four dozen of them at considerable expense, 
and had them and their progeny protected and cared for 
at Wolhurst until they had increased to many times the 
original number. Under this fostering care the birds mul- 
tiplied rapidly until in time they became very numerous 
throughout the valley of the Upper Platte, and now con- 
stitute the most attractive game-bird in the State. He never 
permitted the killing of birds or other game within his boun- 
daries. The result of this protection was that the Wolhurst 
lands became the resort for all kinds of wild creatures, for 
something more than instinct teaches them where to find 
refuge. In the spring-time, to the great delight of the pro- 
prietor, the big cottonwood trees in the river bottom were 
full of the music of the feathered flock, and there never was 
a time that there were not many of them in sight. It is 
a pleasure to add that Mr. Thomas F. Walsh, who succeeded 
Mr. Wolcott as proprietor of Wolhurst, continued the pro- 
tection of the feathered pets, practically maintaining the 
place as a bird reserve as long as he lived. 

Mr. Wolcott's love of trees was strikingly manifested in 
his protection of a giant cottonwood he found standing in 
the way of an extension to his kitchen. Not wishing to 
destroy the tree, and yet bent on the addition, he directed 
that the kitchen be built around it, thus leaving the tree 



590 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

standing. So long as he owned the place the tree continued 
to thrive although its trunk was enclosed. 

At great expense he ran water from the Platte to 
make a lake near his house, and this body of water was 
the source of much pride to him. He was very fond of 
walking around the lake, a distance of almost a mile. On 
one occasion a party of friends who were visiting him took 
advantage of this habit to play a practical joke on him. 
One after another of them proposed the walk, and so pleased 
was he to show the beauties of the water and its surround- 
ings that for some time he did not realize that he was being 
made the subject of a teazing process. When at last he 
did discover the prank he enjoyed it quite as much as any 
one else, and declared that each circuit made had been a 
pleasure to him. " You can't get too much of a good thing," 
he said. He also found much enjoyment in tramps along 
the banks of the Platte and through other portions of his 
grounds. 

When he wanted to be really secluded at Wolhurst, as 
often was the case when political problems taxed him, he 
would have the telephone disconnected and thus protect him- 
self from much intrusion. The roadway through the grounds 
was so constructed that those who continued driving after 
passing the house soon found themselves facing an exit — 
possibly a hint that the merely curious were not expected 
to remain long. 



MANNER OF LIFE 

At Wolhurst, Mr. Wolcott lived splendidly and in excel- 
lent taste. There he was more at home than probably at 
any other place, and there he dispensed a hospitality in 
keeping with his generous and lordly nature. His house 
was most spacious, and in it he entertained not only in- 
numerable of his Colorado friends, but many persons of dis- 
tinction from other States and from foreign countries. The 
house was built for comfort, and within its generous en- 
virons were the most attractive corners and the easiest 
chairs. The walls were lined with pictures, the floors strewn 




i*5WPK 







CHARACTERISTICS 591 

with rugs. The library contained the choicest volumes ; there 
was music for those who desired it, and invitation for 
a row on the lake, for a spin to the mountains, or for one 
of many games was ever open to all invited guests. He 
knew how to entertain, and he was quite as careful not to 
surfeit the visitor with attention as he was not to neglect. 

Hon. Edward Kent, now Chief Justice of Arizona, who 
for several years was Mr. Wolcott's neighbor across the 
Platte, and who was a frequent visitor at the Wolcott resi- 
dence, has kindly furnished the following picture of Mr. 
Wolcott at home at Wolhurst: 

Shortly after my arrival in Denver, where I removed to 
from New York in 1896, I went to live in the country some 
three miles from Wolhurst, the home of Senator Wolcott, and 
across the Platte River from him. The slight acquaintance that 
I had had with Senator Wolcott was soon increased by constant 
meeting upon the trains to and from Denver and in the country, 
and ripened shortly into a close friendship which existed until 
his death. For a number of years, when the Senator was at 
home, I was a frequent visitor at his house. He was fond of 
being with people whom he liked, and his house was constantly 
filled with guests, sometimes singly but oftener, particularly 
at the week-end, in numbers. 

Senator Wolcott was a royal host and his invitations were 
greatly prized by all who were fortunate enough to receive 
them. Life at Wolhurst and the week-end gatherings there were 
much like similar life and similar gatherings at English country 
houses, entertainment of all sorts being available for the guests, 
and with full liberty to make such choice thereof as might 
seem best to each individual— only the formal dinner at night 
bringing together at any stated time all those staying with him. 
His magnetism, so strongly felt by all who have listened to 
his wonderful oratory, was not lost in the more intimate and 
closer relations of host and guest. His cheery smile, his deep 
and ever ready sense of humor, combined with the magnetism 
that radiated from him, kept the atmosphere charged with a 
sort of mental electricity, as it were, that sharpened the wits 
of others and made his dinners and evening gatherings not only 
attractive but brilliant. 

Senator Wolcott was not only a widely-read man, but a 
man of learning on many and varied subjects. What he knew 



592 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

he knew well, and he had little patience with superficial 
knowledge in others, or, indeed, in himself. I remember one 
evening when he had been speaking most entertainingly of 
certain customs and beliefs and superstitions of the Chinese, 
-of whose country he was very fond and of which he had 
a wide and accurate knowledge — some mention was made of 
certain analogous facts in Roman history, concerning which 
he was appealed to for corroboration. His sweeping statement 
that he knew nothing of Rome or of Roman history was most 
characteristic, for though his actual knowledge of such history 
was probably greater than that of any one there present, he 
himself felt, since it was not so deep or so accurate as his 
knowledge of most things, that it was but superficial and not 
available. 

A student of history and a lover of it, like most great men, 
his chief delight was in the reading of the actual doings and 
sayings of other great men, and the books he preferred and 
spent the most time over were biographies. A man of action 
always and of a nervous temperament, he took his rest and 
recreation actively. I do not recall ever seeing him at home 
sitting quietly doing nothing as is the wont of most of us at 
times. He was fond of cards and played most games fairly 
well, though hardly an expert at any of them. He was par- 
ticularly fond of solitaire, and at home when only a few were 
with him played it incessantly, taking part the while in the 
general conversation, his active mind and restless spirit needing 
the additional outlet the game afforded. 

Fond of his State and zealous of her good name, loyal to 
her and his country's interests, with the recollection of the part 
he had so well played in the councils of the nation, conscious 
of his ability still further to be of great use to his State and 
the nation, and with a great desire to continue to use his great 
talents and knowledge in such service, his defeat for re-election 
to the Senate was not only a great loss to his State and the 
nation, but a great shock to his pride and his sense of what was 
justly due him for his past services. The evidence of the in- 
gratitude of his own people whom he loved and had so well 
served sorrowed his later days at Wolhurst, if indeed it did 
not, as the expression is, break his heart, and contributed in 
no slight degree to his early untimely death. 

His faults and failings were those of the man whose blood 
runs red and strong in his veins, and he was a man so big and 
so full of brain as to be almost in the class of men we call men 



CHARACTERISTICS 593 

of genius, who, as Napoleon said, are not to be judged by 
the standards applied to ordinary mortals. Orator, statesman, 
lover of his country, loyal friend, generous, and ever ready with 
help and advice, well hated as well as well loved, as a strong 
man should be, Colorado was proud of him and the fame he 
brought her, even when she discarded him, and held him, as she 
holds him now, as her greatest son. 

In 1900, Mr. Wolcott became interested in the establish- 
ment of a National Soldiers' Home in Colorado, and while 
he was laboring in that interest some " good friend " printed 
a rumor that his principal object in pressing the subject 
was to open the way for the sale of Wolhurst to the Gov- 
ernment for the Home. The report aroused his indigna- 
tion. Referring to it in an interview printed in a Denver 
newspaper, he characterized it as untrue, saying: 

"There isn't money enough in the Government to buy 
Wolhurst. It never occurred to me that any one should 
even think of such a thing until I saw it in that paper." 

The pursuit of health and attention to business affairs 
kept Mr. Wolcott much away from Colorado after his re- 
tirement from the Senate, but that it was his fixed intention 
to remain in the State and to make his home at Wolhurst 
he told many persons, and he " put it in black and white " 
in two letters to Judge Kent. The first of these was written 
from the quaint frontier resort Luchon, in the Pyrenees, 
whither on account of his health he went soon after he left 
the Senate in March, 1901. It is dated August 17th of that 
year, and the portion pertaining to his residence plans is 
as follows : 

I read with great interest what you say about my returning 
to Colorado, and I appreciate the friendship that prompts the 
suggestion. But there is n't the slightest ground for anxiety. 
I hope to be able to remain out here a couple of months yet, 
and am in no haste about returning. But when I do get back, 
I intend going to Wolhurst for good, and to spend the whole 
winter there, and the months following. It would be idle for 
me to say that I did n't hope to go East frequently. I have 
always done this. But for the bulk of every year while I live 
it is my intention to live at Wolhurst. If you could see the 



594 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

bills I 've paid lately to fix up its water supply, and generally 
improve it, you wouldn't doubt it. It is going to be a little 
hard at first, because I 've had to be so much away, but up to 
this time I 've never had a thought of spending less than eight 
months of every year in Colorado. 

The second letter to Judge Kent was written from 
Denver, January 29, 1903, immediately following his de- 
feat for the Senate. In that letter he not only declared 
his purpose of making his home at Wolhurst, but indi- 
cated his intention of retaining his hold on political affairs. 
The letter follows : 

The result changes all my plans of life, and I shall stay 
here for the next few years the bulk of the time and make 
an active fight all along the line. 

Believe me, I have no deep sense of personal disappointment, 
but I do feel outraged at this betrayal of the party ; the more 
so as I am inclined to fear that the line of representations of 
this cabal really have influence at Washington. I am going 
East for the purpose of spending a short time in Washington, 
but shall be back here by the first of March, and shall reopen 
Wolhurst permanently and make this my home. 

I feel too deeply to write much about the whole situation, 
but I hope you will be this way before long and we can talk 
it over. 

So it was that Mr. Wolcott lived his varied life, flitting 
from Denver to Washington and from Washington to Europe, 
and never failing to put in a day with the " home-folks " 
at Longmeadow when he could find the time to do so. After 
all, the dearest place to him was the home of his father 
and mother so long as they remained there. 

Unfortunately, Father Wolcott did not live long enough 
to witness the full fruition of his hope for his favorite son. 
However, before his death, he was fully satisfied with the 
young man's achievement in the world and so expressed 
himself. 

MARRIED LIFE 

Mr. Wolcott was married soon after entering upon his first 



CHARACTERISTICS 595 

term as Senator and divorced about a year before the close 
of his second term. His wife was Frances Metcalfe, widow 
of Lyman K. Bass, Mr. Wolcott's predecessor as general 
counsel of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. The wed- 
ding ceremony was performed at St. Paul's Church, Buffalo 
New York, on May 14, 1891. Owing to temperamental dif- 
ferences, the marriage was not a happy one, and throu-h 
a mutual understanding it was annulled by a decree of 
divorce, which was granted March 5, 1900. 

In his early years Mr. Wolcott would seem to have 
had comparatively few love affairs, but there were some. 
His manner was so full of charm, and he tasted so fully 
of all the delights of life that he could hardly fail to fall 
under the spell of the gentler sex. In his Cleveland days 
he entertained an attachment for one of his schoolmates, 
which ran through most of the years of his adolescence. 
The letters given earlier from his Norwich schoolmates show 
that he was on cordial terms with the ladies of his class 
at the Academy. He tells of an infatuation contracted at 
Keokuk, Iowa, when on his way to Colorado, but evidently 
there is more jest than earnestness in the account. He said 
in effect that the lady in this case was very charming, but 
that "her father was in too robust health to render pos- 
sible an alliance," a phrase which does not indicate great 
seriousness. It is probable that his poverty and the meagre 
social attractions of the town in those early days guarded 
him from any entanglement while he was at Georgetown. 
About the time of his removal to Denver, he became engaged 
to a young woman from a middle Western State whom he 
had met on his first trip to Europe. The engagement was 
suddenly broken off, and soon after its annulment the young 
Coloradoan was travelling eastward. Passing through the 
State in which the lady resided, he fell into conversation 
with a fellow-traveller. Upon learning the Colorado man's 
name, the other gentleman, who had heard of the engage- 
ment, made reference to it and showed an inclination to 
converse about it. Quite embarrassed for the time, Mr. Wol- 
cott found little difficulty in getting out of the predicament. 
"I wish," he said, "you would not press that subject; the 



506 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

gentleman who was engaged to the young lady is a relation 
of mine, and I feel a little sensitive about it." 

" I see by a newspaper sent me by Addie Carroll," he 

wrote in 1876, " that , an old Norwich flame of mine, 

is just married. The flowers of the forest are ' wede 
awa.' " 

He found Georgetown a lonesome place when he first 
arrived there, and two months afterward wrote his father : 

Your remark (probably in a joke) in regard to my getting 
married has more in it than you suppose. No man can live 
in this country a life of any comfort or satisfaction unless 
he has a home. It would n't cost me any more, if as much, to 
live, if I were married, as it does now. I have no one in view, 
or in mind. If you will select one for me, — a little money or 
some law-books, no hindrance, — I will come on in the summer 
aDd marry her. Will you do it? 

Almost six years later, December 29, 1877, we find him 
writing to his mother: 

I spent Christmas day at Blackhawk and was taken quite 
by surprise to receive from you the very work I had been 
wanting to own and to read. Henry was also very much pleased 
with his present. A man should be married, or live at home, 
properly to appreciate and remember the holidays. It seems as 
if they came and went with less interest every year, and like 
most everything else, their pleasure is in the recollections they 
recall. I have still on my table a little basket for papers given 
me by you in 1857, just twenty years ago, on Christmas day. 

Much in the same strain as late as July 13, 1884, in a 
letter to his father, he said : " You are busy at Longmeadow. 
I wish I had a wife and a lot of babies and could spend 
the rest of my life quietly in some country town, tilling 
the soil ; but I cannot, and that is the end of it." 

He liked to tease his mother over the possibility of 
getting married, as, for instance, when, in 1875, he wrote 
in a postscript to a letter to his father : 

" Please ask mother if it is the business of the gentle- 
man to see about wedding cards and such trash." 



CHARACTERISTICS 597 

On another occasion in the same year, to his mother 
herself, concerning his accounts, he wrote: 

" If a kind Providence ever blesses me with a son (and 
there 's no telling what a kind Providence won't do) I '11 
not make him keep an account; would you? " 

In a campaign speech in Colorado in 1886, reviewing the 
Cleveland Administration, Mr. Wolcott said: 

" The one act of President Cleveland in his whole Ad- 
ministration of which the people approve, is his getting 
married and then going fishing — and the high example this 
furnishes should induce you, my fellow-citizens, to ' go and 
do likewise.' " 

DEATH OF FATHER AND MOTHER 

Dr. Wolcott died at Longmeadow, February 24, 1886, two 
years after the removal of the family from Cleveland, and 
his death was a sad blow to Ed, as indeed it was to all 
the members of the family. Fortunately, a family account 
of his demise has been preserved. It is in the shape of an 
undated letter from Miss Clara Gertrude Wolcott to her 
brother Edward, and is as follows: 

All last week, we could see that Father was losing strength, 
but it was very gradual, until Saturday night. Saturday after- 
noon he insisted, as usual, on being completely dressed, even 
to collar and cuffs and neck-tie, and then he walked to the end 
of the hall and back again. But this exhausted him evidently. 
Sunday he was so weak that he did not try to move himself, 
but was lifted into his chair several times. He took nothing 
Sunday or afterward but a few spoonfuls of wine and milk 
at intervals. After Sunday we did not try to move him, except 
from one side of the bed to the other, for a change of position. 
Wednesday morning was a beautiful morning. Mother spoke of 
it several times before breakfast. Lottie and I stayed with 
Father while the others were at breakfast. We noticed that 
his breathing was a little harder than it had been, but just a 
little. But when Mother came up, she saw there had been a 
change in his face — a pallor, and the others were called. 

Father breathed for about ten minutes after this. His breath- 
ing became fainter and then just stopped. That was all. I 
could not imagine anything so peaceful and lovely — just like 



598 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

the day that had so impressed Mother. He is still in his 
room, and his face is so beautiful. It expresses all the patience 
and trustfulness that Father has shown through all his sick- 
ness. I think he had been so brave, Ed, longing to stay, but 
willing to go. I do not think any one could see him now and 
have any doubt of the Resurrection. Once on Sunday, when 
he was lifted into his chair, he raised his hand with considerable 
effort, and held it up while he pronounced the benediction — 
clearly, every word, and then wanted to go back to bed. 

We miss our older brothers, the three who were born in 
Longmeadow. 

As I think of Father's illness, I can see so many things to 
be thankful for — that he was so free from suffering, and could 
be made so comfortable. 

A few years after Dr. Wolcott's death there was a move- 
ment looking to the preparation by the family of a biography 
of Dr. Wolcott, and Edward did all that was possible to- 
ward encouraging and promoting the undertaking. Some 
of the members of the family went to the extent of writing 
an extended sketch, and Senator Wolcott wrote part of an 
introduction, which it is believed should be preserved here 
for many reasons, the principal of which are: That it 
presents in succinct form many of the virtues of the father 
as outlined by his favorite and distinguished son, and that 
so far as known it is the only effort the son ever made in the 
direction of writing a biography of any one. He did not 
contemplate the construction of the entire preface, but un- 
dertook to supply only the opening and the closing portions 
of it, These were written at Hot Springs, Virginia, in 
September, 1889, following his entrance into the Senate 
in the preceding March. He was at the Springs on account 
of gout, and while there read the manuscript which had 
been prepared by others. He wrote at length about the 
production, making suggestions for changes here and there 
and preparing his part in his own hand. His suggestion 
for the introduction opening was as follows: 

This volume, for private circulation only, is printed because 
there are many among Dr. Wolcott's old parishioners and friends 
Avho will be glad to have, in enduring form, some little memorial 
sketch of his life, because his hymns published through different 



CHARACTERISTICS 599 

channels, some of them having found their way to extensive 
circulation, were thought worthy of being collated in one volume. 
The sketch of his life and work is slight, and can give but 
little impression of Dr. Wolcott to those who did not know 
him. His personality, his glowing enthusiasm, quick, noble im- 
pulsiveness, and ardor, entered into all his work; the dignity 
of his presence and his clear voice lent strength to his utter- 
ances, and in his daily life his sunny side and happy tempera- 
ment brightened the days for those who came in contact with 
him. Those who knew him well will recall him as they read 
this little volume, and if it should fall into other hands it 
will at least serve to tell the simple story of a life devoted to 
the Master's work : a life in which those who knew him best 
can recall nothing but sweet and gracious memories, and as 
such it may not be entirely without interest. 

For the close of the foreword he suggested the following : 

The foregoing tells in outline Dr. Wolcott's more public 
labors. In his profession and calling he had high standing, and 
won the respect of every man who knew him. In any other 
calling or profession he would have commanded equal respect, 
and would have won greater fame. At the Bar he would have 
attained eminence. He had fine presence and bearing, and he 
did not know moral or physical cowardice. His mind was ana- 
lytical and clear and logical, and in his oratory he was effective, 
impassioned, and moving. Whatever he did, he did with all 
his might. He chose to devote his life to the ministry, or rather 
his calling was chosen for him when he was a lad, with his 
acquiescence, and throughout all the years of his ministry he lived 
a life of self-effacement, seeking only the advancement of Christ's 
Kingdom, and whatever honors came to him came always un- 
sought. His temperament was always sunny and hopeful, and 
he was frank and as open as the day. He had a large family 
to be educated; he found a way to keep them all at school and 
college as long as they were willing to attend, and the economies 
he practised to give his children an education really brought him 
pleasure, and with them ail he was always generous wherever he 
could find something or somebody to help. Nothing moved him so 
deeply as injustice or wrong to others. During the earlier years 
of his ministry his mind dwelt constantly on the existence of 
slavery in the States, and his thought and utterances were deeply 
affected by it. During the War his soul was constantly astir, 



600 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

and if he had not known that he could do better and greater 
service in his Church and with the Christian Commission, he 
would have taken his musket and marched in the ranks. Yet 
when the War was over, and there was no more human slavery, 
he gladly devoted himself to the work of building up the poorer 
churches in the West, work which would be uncongenial to most 
men of his training and temper, but he made it congenial to 
him because it was work. Apparently, perhaps, he belonged 
rather to the Church Militant, yet in all his ministrations, 
whether visiting the sick or the afflicted or burying the dead, he 
was always a pastor beloved. 

The biography was not completed. 

There is no record of the last days of Mother Wolcott 
similar to that of the father's illness and death which is 
given in the letter quoted. She lived until February 5, 
1901, surviving her husband fifteen years. Her son Samuel's 
tribute to her memory has been preserved. It was written 
from Laredo, Texas, his place of residence, on the day of 
his mother's death, and reads: 

Even to-day as I think of my mother the picture which 
comes to me oftenest and most vividly is as she was in Cleve- 
land and in Providence. No matter how much we children 
tried her she never spoke a fretful or hasty word to us. 

Her judgment in regard to every question that arose seemed 
deliberate and perfect. 

To her might have been applied the eulogy of the mother 
of King Lemuel : 

" She openeth her mouth with wisdom ; and in her tongue is 
the law of kindness. Her children arise up and call her blessed; 
her husband also, and he praiseth her. Many daughters have 
done virtuously, but thou excellest them all." 

A picture of the family group of the father and mother 
with their ten children was taken at Thanksgiving-time 1S80, 
when they were all assembled at Norwich for Katherine's 
marriage to Mr. Toll. Mr. Elizur Wolcott, of Jacksonville, 
Illinois, a brother of Dr. Wolcott, wrote on the margin of 
a copy of this picture which hung in his home the following: 

" The woman sitting near the middle of this group is the 
mother of the ten sons and daughters who are about her, 



CHARACTERISTICS 601 

nearly all of whom have reached manhood or womanhood, 
and neither her husband nor any of her children has ever 
heard from her an impatient or ill-natured or unadvised 
word." 

Ed Wolcott's death was a signal for Henry's removal 
from Colorado, and since then he has resided on a farm at 
White Plains, New York, where, surrounded by agreeable 
conditions and near his friends in New York City, he has 
continued to live, as Ed lived at Wolhurst, the life of a 
country gentleman. 

Thus the year 1905 saw the close of the careers of both 
of the Wolcotts in Colorado, one permanently, and the other 
at least temporarily. Each left his impress upon the young 
commonwealth. Both had been closely and helpfully iden- 
tified with the formation and early history of the State, 
and the memory of the substantial achievements of the one 
will continue long to be cherished in connection with the 
recollection of the brilliant characteristics of the other. 



WOLCOTT ABROAD 

ALL your sons are fond of their home, and yet they have all 
been away from it more than most boys. We are all in- 
clined to be restless, or have been. I cannot read of a 
steamer's sailing for Europe without wishing that I was on board 
of it. I always am wanting to " go somewhere." I suppose the 
cure for this feeling comes when a man either acquires some 
money and interests in a locality, or when he finds that he 
has influence among particular people. I possess neither at 
present, but " live in 'opes." 

So wrote Mr. Wolcott to his father from Georgetown, 
February 19, 1875. Henry had just been on a visit to " the 
old folks." Keferring to the brother's trip, Edward was led 
to a dissertation upon home and its attractions, and in thus 
indulging himself he divulged two interesting traits of char- 
acter: No man liked more to have a permanent abiding 
place, and few were fonder of travel. 

He had been in Colorado only a year or two when there 
was an opportunity for him to go abroad to assist in the 
sale of a mining property. He was sorely tempted, but be- 
cause of the possible injury to his business resisted the offer, 
much as he wanted to see the outside world. 

AYriting from Georgetown concerning the Centennial, 
June 7, 1876, he said: 

" I should be more anxious to see it if I did n't still 
expect to some day see the rest of the world and have my 
' Centennial ' in the different countries I visited." 

He made a trip to England on business before he left 
Georgetown, and the journey was extended to the Continent. 
On his way back, he said, " How the men at Georgetown 

602 



CHARACTERISTICS 603 

will open their mouths at the stories that I shall have to 
tell them about what I have seen." He made a voyage to 
China about 1880, while a member of the State Senate, 
and once visited Central America. He crossed the ocean 
to Europe many times, the journeys becoming more frequent 
after he was elected to the United States Senate, and par- 
ticularly after he began to be interested in international 
bimetallism, which subject had served to introduce him to 
some of the higher official and social circles of the capitals 
of the Old World, in which he found much enjoyment. After 
his retirement from the Senate he lengthened his visits 
abroad, and it was his fate to die in a foreign land. 

The object of the European trips was threefold: He 
went in search of health or pleasure or in promotion of 
the interests of the country. The waters of Carlsbad he be- 
lieved to be beneficial to him, and he spent much time at 
that resort. He had many friends in England and France. 
He enjoyed being with them. Italy appealed to him on its 
own account. From 1893 to 1900 he gave much attention 
to the promotion of an agreement in the interest of the gen- 
eral coinage of silver, and while he did not succeed in ac- 
complishing the full scope of his desire in that direction, he 
laid broad foundations which yet may be built on, and he 
added largely to his list of foreign friends. 

Among the letters from Mr. Wolcott which have been 
preserved is one to his mother, written from Carlsbad, June 
27, 1899. It affords a fleeting view of many phases of a 
trip abroad and is given entire: 

Here I am again in this place of wonderful waters. I reached 
here Thursday, having been detained ten days in Paris with a 
most painful tooth, which I had to have treated there. My 
partner, Mr. Vaile, who has been far from well lately, is also 
here, and we see much of each other. 

There are thousands of visitors here from all over the world, 
although the German language largely predominates. Most of 
the people are uninteresting to look at, and there are any 
number of Jews among them. Everybody, however, is devoted 
to the one purpose of taking the waters and following the diet, 
and nobody has time for pleasure. 

I rise soon after six and go to bed at nine, and spend most 



604 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

of the day walking over the hills. One is always more or less 
irritable and depressed while here, but, after the treatment is 
over, the years fall away and one feels a different person. It 
was a very great disappointment to me that Henry could not 
come also. These waters would have done wonders for him. I 
am selfish about it, too, for I should have enjoyed the days if 
he had been here with me, while now I am lonely enough. 

We had a wonderful voyage over. There was no day that 
the sea was not as smooth as glass, and not a single passenger 
was ill. I fear it has spoiled me for all other sea-journeys. I 
sat at table next Godkin of the Evening Post, with whom I 
disagree on almost every subject, and we got on famously. For- 
tunately on the other side of me was an old English friend, an 
ardent bimetallist whom I had known well in London. 

Everybody in London was most kind to me. Mr. Choate 
asked me to luncheon and dinner, but I was so engaged that 
I could not accept. The Chancellor of the Exchequer made me 
the guest of honor at his Queen's Birthday dinner, and the 
same evening I went to Lord Salisbury's reception, where I met 
all sorts of pleasant Englishmen. The most interesting event 
to me of my English visit, however, was hearing the debate in 
the House of Commons over the grant to Lord Kitchener, who 
sat with Field Marshal Lord Roberts close beside me in the 
gallery. 

I soon tire of foreign travel, however, except in Italy, and 
am already counting the days before my return, which, I hope, 
will be early in August. 

An old friend writes of a week-end visit Wolcott made 
to Warwick Castle: 

We were a very large party, politicians, sportsmen, fashion- 
able ladies, and odds and ends. I can recall the Duke and 
Duchess of Beaufort, Mr. Winston Churchill, Lady Londes- 
borough, Lady de Trafford, Mrs. Sneyd; Prince Francis of Teck, 
the brother of the Princess of Wales, now the Queen of Eng- 
land; Lord and Lady Algernon Lennox, who had been Wolcott's 
guests at Wolhurst; Lord Herbert Vane Tempest; Miss Plowden, 
now Lady Lytton, and others. 

Wolcott brought to a gathering ennuy6d with a London season 
a complete change of atmosphere. I remember at luncheon on 
Sunday one delicious episode. Lord Warwick, referring to the 
recent death of Queen Victoria, said : " With Her Majesty's taking 



CHARACTERISTICS 605 

off, the word ' veneration ' has really disappeared from our dic- 
tionary. We admire and greatly respect Lord Salisbury, but 
whom do we ' venerate ' any more? " The Senator's eye twinkled 
and he said : " Yes, the magic of that one word ' Queen ' when- 
ever an Englishman was within earshot ! It mattered not though 
a black Queen had been referred to; still always the image of 
the little lady at Windsor filled the mind's eye. I recall a gro- 
tesque instance." And then there was a silence at table; what 
was this prodigious man going to say next? He continued 
slowly and quite seriously : " I was in the stalls of a New York 
theatre a year since and a travelling couple, evidently English, 
probably straight off the ship, sat next to me. It was the won- 
derful spectacular play, ' Antony and Cleopatra,' and after that 
river scene and the furious love passages with Antony when the 
barbaric Queen bares her breast to the asp and dies, the husband 
said : ' My dear, fine ! fine ! it could hardly have been better 
staged in London itself.' 'Fine!' said his lady, 'fine! well per- 
haps so ; but, after all, if you come to think of it, how very little 
it resembles the domestic life of our own dear Queen!'" 

After luncheon he told me lovely Lady Warwick had taken 
him off in an electric launch to explain the future " Socialist 
State." " I told her," he said, " that I would weigh it all care- 
fully, but I thought the State of Colorado was more to my 
liking," and he added : " Will all you charming ladies dress as 
becomingly in the Socialist State? I doubt it." 

One of the ladies of the party said to me later : " What part 
of America does he represent in Congress? I think you said 
Venezuela? " " Yes," I said, " Venezuela ! " Greatly we miss the 
Senator from Venezuela ! 

The last trip abroad was that made in the winter of 
1904-5, on which he was accompanied by his brother Henry, 
and which, though made in search of health, ended only in 
death. 



OUT OF THE ORDINARY 

OCCASIONALLY, but not often, Mr. Wolcott tore him- 
self away from his immediate surroundings to enter 
upon the discussion of questions which did not per- 
tain to the moment. He was in no sense a dreamer; he was 
extremely practical — perhaps it were better to say he was 
entirely " current." He was too much occupied with the 
pressing problems to give frequent heed to matters the con- 
sideration of which might be postponed or left to others. 

Still, there were times when he liked to enter upon the 
discussion of such questions. He could be speculative, con- 
templative, introspective, when occasion tempted the mood. 
But he was more disposed to indulge his fancy in those re- 
spects by the quiet of the fireside and in the presence of a few 
friends than in public. Nor was he much inclined to write on 
speculative or sentimental themes. Indeed, he seldom wrote 
on any subject for print. Aside from his contributions to 
Cleveland papers regarding Colorado soon after he reached 
that Territory, and to the Georgetown Miner while editor of 
the paper, very few instances of his writing for the public 
are recalled. A notable exception was an editorial tribute to 
President Garfield, printed in the Denver Tribune of Sep- 
tember 20, 1881, the day following the death of the President 
as the result of his shooting three months previous by the 
assassin Guiteau. The editorial is given entire : 

OUR PRESIDENT DEAD ! 



No lips can utter and no words express the grief of the 
606 



CHARACTERISTICS 607 

Nation — the desolateness — which has fallen upon the people. 
Garfield, our Great Heart, is dead; the bruised and wounded 
body, torn by the cruel bullet, emaciated by disease, and worn 
by pain, is already bathed in the eternal splendors. 

The alternate hopes and fears of the past eighty days had 
in no wise prepared our minds for the possibility of this sad 
event, for the remembrance of his clean life, and the realization 
of the great need we had of him, and the belief that God is 
good, had induced the hope that somehow, we knew not how, 
the Almighty would spare this splendid life; but the prayers of 
a great, a Christian, people could not avail him, and at eleven 
o'clock last evening " Nicanor lay dead in his harness." 

Only a few short days ago, and he was the embodiment of 
manly vigor — strong and brave, wearing his honor as his shield. 
Only a few short days ago, and now the patient eyes are for- 
ever closed; the voice which so nobly and so fearlessly spoke 
for the right, is forever stilled, and the brave hands that lifted 
high the battle flag of the Republic and never faltered in defence 
of his country's liberty, are nerveless and cold in death. 

The waves off Elberon fell and rose, and rose and fell last 
night, but they no longer brought repose to our dying leader; 
the waves off Elberon will rise and fall, and fall and rise until 
time shall melt into eternity, but he whose gaze fell lingeringly 
upon them while his long night was coming on, has crossed a 
mightier ocean, whose waters are waveless and whose shores 
return no echo. 

The humdrum of busy life will commence again and the world 
move on as before, 

" But, O, the heavy change now thou art gone, 
Now thou art gone, and never must return ! " 

The least of all considerations at this time is his assassin; 
whether the dog lives or dies, or how he lives or how he dies, 
is of no sort of moment, for Garfield is dead. 

The lesson of the hour has not yet been burned into our 
hearts; our grief is too recent for that, but even at this hour 
there comes to every true American heart the determination 
that the Republic must live and not die; that no assassin's 
bullet shall destroy, and no faction dismember it; that so long 
as men love liberty and hate oppression, so long shall this Gov- 
ernment, founded on the will of the people, be perpetuated. 
Garfield's life was devoted to this high resolve. We, who loved 



608 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

him in his life, will show reverence to his memory by following 
in his footsteps. 

May God save our country! 

Although frequently urged to contribute to the periodical 
press, Mr. Wolcott consistently declined to do so, except in 
the case of Harper's Weekly, for which he prepared the 
article on the silver question which is referred to elsewhere. 
He did not fall into the habit of some public men of signing 
compositions written by other people. 

He hesitated even to make speeches out of the ordinary 
lines, such as school commencement orations, and frequently 
wrote his father telling of the difficulties he encountered in 
that labor. A fitting example is the following letter of 
December 2, 1884, concerning some remarks made by him 
before a Denver charity organization : 

Bert tells me that he sent you the papers containing my 
short address at the Opera House on Sunday evening. I am 
anxious to know what you think of it. You can hardly have 
an idea of the difficulty I experienced in preparing something 
so entirely out of the line of my ordinary professional work, 
to deliver before an audience so different from any I had ever 
before addressed. Fortunately, it was enthusiastically received, 
but I am through with that sort of thing. The nervous wear 
and tear is too great. 

FEDERAL LEAGUE 

That, when opportunity afforded, Mr. Wolcott could and 
did discuss the fundamental problems of government, is evi- 
denced by the following in the American Correspondence 
column of the National Review of London for April, 1905, 
the month following his death : 

The sudden death in France of ex-Senator Wolcott, of Colo- 
rado, removes one of the most brilliant orators of his day, a 
man of charming personality and high ideals, who recognized 
the debt his country owed to England, and always endeavored 
to remove friction between the two people, and bring them 
close together for their own good and the lasting benefit of 
the whole world. An English friend, who was very close to 



CHARACTERISTICS 609 

Mr. Wolcott during the past fifteen years, has sent me the fol- 
lowing interesting letter, which I gladly make public. 

" During December Senator Wolcott was confined to his rooms 
by an acute attack of bronchitis, and I was in the habit of spend- 
ing an hour or two with him almost daily. The position in 
Colorado was much in his mind and on his spirits; his relations 
with his State were difficult, indeed almost impossible, although 
his service to the Republican party in the crisis of 1896 had 
won him the affection and the gratitude of President McKinley. 
With, perhaps, a prophetic insight into the future of his diffi- 
culties, Wolcott declared, in a speech made in Colorado just 
after the assassination of the President: 

' Let others hail the rising sun, 
I bow to him whose race is run.' 

" But I do not venture to burden your notes with these merely 
local issues, issues which have died with him. During the last 
few days that he was in America, he opened up a subject of 
extreme interest, namely, the service done by Washington and 
Hamilton to all mankind, and the great success which continues 
to attend the development of the Federal principle of government. 
Rut for the Federal nexus, he thought that perhaps now, but 
certainly later, these forty-five States would have become forty- 
five nations, with government on the South American plan. To 
commemorate the splendid success of the Washington-Hamilton 
experiment, he talked of the possibility of establishing within 
our two great communities a Federal League — an association 
outside politics, but which would recruit itself to enormous di- 
mensions by the enrolment of those who would secure peace and 
good-will through the expansion of the Federal principle. 

" The Irish difficulty, which he ever regarded as such a menace 
to good relations and good politics equally here and in Great 
Britain, would, he thought, disappear if public opinion, instructed 
by inter-Federal discussion and literature, were to discover that 
Ireland demanded something more than the ' State Right.' She 
is entitled to the State Right of a Federal unit; but she would 
have no sympathizer on the continent, he held, did she demand 
the right to secede. He thought that some such league of Fed- 
erals, interchanging visits and securing speeches from the best 
men of all parties, would do more to inform and harmonize public 
opinion in the two bodies politic than could be effected in any 

Vol.5l.-39 



610 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

other way. Our two communities, if once convinced that the 
growth of the Federal principle points the road to the kingdom 
of peace, would, if acting in concert and yet with no formal 
or ' entangling alliance,' be not twice, but ten times more power- 
ful in international diplomacy than either the one or the other 
acting singly. 

" Wolcott thought that the initiative should be with America 
— with some group of distinguished Americans ; that the platform 
should be prepared here and sent over. My friend having rep- 
resented in the Senate Colorado — a State where women exercise 
the franchise — disapproved woman's suffrage; but he thought 
that women might do almost the more valuable share of the 
work of a Federal League such as that which he foreshadowed. 
I feel that in this imperfect sketch of an idea there is the 
last will and testament of one who greatly loved England and 
all England stands for; he loved her indeed hardly less than 
he loved his own country." 

The friend quoted is Mr. Moreton Frewen. 

Five years after Mr. Wolcott's death the Federal idea 
for the British Empire advanced by him in the conversa- 
tion quoted by Mr. Frewen materialized in general gather- 
ings in its support, and there were many indications of 
growing favor. Unquestionably some Englishmen had con- 
temporaneously cherished the views he entertained, but his 
enunciation of them on what was practically his death-bed 
lent to his utterances a weight which might not have at- 
tached to the expressions of others along the same line. 

He had endeared himself to all Englishmen by the friendly 
sentiments expressed in his Venezuelan and other speeches, 
and had many personal friends among the English people. 
No result of the Spanish War was more pleasing to him than 
the effect it had in bringing England and America into 
closer relationship, and if he had lived there can be no 
doubt that he would have exerted himself to make the tie 
stronger. It is fitting, therefore, that the English should 
show their appreciation of his interest and of the im- 
petus his words gave the cause, as they are doing by frequent 
mention of his name in connection with the Federal move- 
ment — a movement which many of them dream may include 
— in a different way, of course — the United States. 



CHARACTERISTICS 611 

A union for offence and defence has not infrequently been 
suggested, and that such a combination would have its advan- 
tages on this side the Atlantic is believed by many to have 
been demonstrated by the aid given by Great Britain in pre- 
venting other European nations from interfering while the 
United States gave attention to Spain. How far Mr. Wol- 
cott would have gone in support of such alliance no one 
can now say. His words speak for themselves. They have 
been printed in pamphlet form and circulated throughout the 
Britisli Empire, and Mr. Wolcott's English friends consider 
them one of the strongest influences in bringing the people 
of that Empire into closer relations. 

LITERARY POSSIBILITIES 

If Mr. Wolcott had turned his attention to literature, 
success would have been certain. His speeches and letters 
afford abundant evidence of the attractive quality of his 
style, and his broad reading, retentive memory, and gen- 
eral understanding supplied all that could have been neces- 
sary to insure the attention of a large circle of readers. 
In his letters, as in his speeches, he dealt generally 
with questions of the hour, and very seldom entered upon 
a description of surroundings or an elaboration of detail. 
There were exceptions to this rule, however, and two letters 
have been segregated from the volume of his correspondence 
to demonstrate his capacity in this respect. 

One of these was written to a sister, and is as follows : 

Georgetown, Colo., May 5, 1878, 
Sunday Evening. 
My Dear Clara : 

A long time ago, when I used to go to the High School in 
Cleveland, there was a boy named Cutter — I remember him as 
having a sort of bullet head — whose father had a lazy bob-tailed 
horse; and we used to take him in the fall of the year, and 
drive out to just this side of the same Shaker settlement you 
write about, and gather hickory nuts. I remember it always 
rained in a drizzly kind of way. We used to take ten cents 
apiece with us, and with it we would buy of the Shakers all 
the milk we could drink, and all the apple-pie and preserves we 
could eat. I don't know where Cutter is now, and the hickory 



612 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

trees may be cut down, but I imagine that the Shakers still 
keep cow; and make pies and preserves. I wouldn't know the 
road now, but I recollect it as a very pleasant drive. 

Tf it isn't too far, there is another little place worth visit- 
in. It is what is left of an old Mormon settlement, and the 
ruins of the temple were very pretty when I saw them fourteen 
years ago. I went by the place on foot, selling pictures, and 
getting from Chardon to somewhere else-I forget where. 

Once in a while I used to go on the horse-cars as far as 
Wilson Avenue (they did n't go any farther then) and walked out 

to East Cleveland to see a girl named who was as sweet 

as the morning, and whose father kept bees and sold Dorking 
eggs She's married now and has a lot of children, I believe; 
but I remember the road down by her house was a particularly 

pleasant one. 

I never used to care much about the Rocky River road, ex- 
cept once when Father went out to marry a couple one evening, 
at a half-finished brick house (I don't believe it's finished yet) 
fast beyond the toll-gate, and he took me with him; we had a 
nice supper and Father and I both kissed the bride, and we 
drove home in the moonlight. It was as light as day. The 
bridegroom either worked at Maltby's oyster-stand in Superior 
Street or at the shoe store next door; perhaps he sold oysters 
during the months that an R is in them and shoes the balance 

of the year. . 

Then there is a man who sells leather, and has a beautiful 
place way out on the Lake Shore on the same side of the river 
you live on. We used to get permission Sundays after Sunday- 
school to walk in the old cemetery on Erie Street (Father 
thought it would divert our minds from the vanities of this 
world) and get Johnny Outhwaite's or somebody else's wagon 
and drive out to his place on the Lake Shore and go swimming. 
Lon- afterward Mother and I went out to a house close by 
there on the St. Clair road, I think, and spent the day. It 
was very warm and there were lots of flies, and we went out 
and picked berries. What was the lady's name, Mother? And 
wasn't it with Mrs. Spencer's horse and buggy we drove out 
there and home again? 

Just this side of the house there is a gully where there 
are woodcock in the fall. I went after some there once with 
somebody, I don't remember who, who was the proud possessor 
of a gun. We did n't get any woodcock, I believe, but I recol- 
lect a random shot sent one or two buckshot into my pantaloons 



CHARACTERISTICS 613 

just grazing my skin, and for a moment I thought I was mortally 
wounded. 

I 've told you of all the drives I think of, Clara. You 've 
probably found them all before this, and many others too. It 
will be splendid exercise for you, and after awhile you '11 look 
back and wonder at what pleasant times you 've had. Nearly 
all the pleasure in the world is in remembering, and memories 
of days at home are very tender. Write often. With love, 
Your affectionate Brother, 

Ed. 

All this to induce his sister, who was delicate, to take 
outdoor exercise. 

The other letter was to his mother and was written just 
after a visit to her at Longnieadow. It ran : 

The New Mathewson, 
Narragansett Pier, R. I., July 2, 1900. 
My Dear Mother: 

The day has been a long one, and rather tedious, but I got 
here finally. There were nearly two hours to wait at Providence, 
and I spent it in renewing my memories of the place. I walked 
up Westminster Street. The place on High Street near the 
corner of Dean, where the church used to be, is all built over, 
but on Dean Street, a little way back, is the same lumber yard 
that was there when we lived in Providence. The old Hoyle 
Tavern is gone, and all High Street seems poverty-stricken and 
full of second-hand stores and the like. Few of the old houses 
are left, but our old house in High Street is standing exactly 
as it used to when we lived there. It is evidently a boarding- 
house. I thought of little Mary Alice whom I remember so 
well as she lay in the front room, and of the black men whom 
once or twice father hid in the attic, to the terror of us all. 1 

I could n't look over into the yard, but the foliage seemed 
luxurious, and I wondered if any of the pear trees father planted 
were still there. Do you realize, dear Mother, that I am speak- 
ing of a time forty-five years ago? As I came away I looked 
into the little area next our house, not on the Butts' side, and 
recalled " Fatty Bailey " whose father was a sign painter. Do 
you recall him? and the two thin misshapen boys who 

1 Mary Alice was a sister who died in infancy. The black men re- 
ferred to were fugitive slaves to whom Dr. Wolcott gave refuge and 
shelter. 



614 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

lived upstairs across the way? The old Beneficent Church seemed 
rather neglected. 

Then I followed, at the other end of the town, along North 
Main Street, and saw the little building where, upstairs, some- 
body we knew made and sold " the Royal Game of Goose." You 
remember we had it once. Then I followed along Benefit Street 
and back over the hill, and through the Brown University grounds 
to the station. The old Arcade we once thought so grand was 
rather shopworn. I was struck by the number of Irish faces 
I encountered. 

After all, I think Longmeadow the pleasantest of all our old 
homes. I wish I could write you of the hundreds of early 
memories that swept over me, and most of them you would share : 
The Sunday they excommunicated Deacon Knight's widow, be- 
cause the poor woman thought she conversed with her dear 
husband through a spiritualist medium; the time the railroad 
lost your new bonnet, and found it just after you 'd got another 

like it; the different qualities of the four girls, and any 

number of others. 

I had such a happy visit at Longmeadow, my dear Mother, 
and I hope I may have another before many months. 

I am almost the only guest here, and feel as if I owned a 
Beach. 

Ever your affectionate Son, 

Ed. 

Is there not a suggestion of Dickens in these letters? Or 
of Stevenson? 

And does n't the narration given by Mr. Wolcott in the 
second letter take one back to the time when a third of 
a century previous he hauled his cousin " Addie " Car- 
roll all around Providence to afford him an opportunity 
to jump over into the back yard of the same house, 
just as he had done when a boy? It should be borne in 
mind that this letter was written when Mr. Wolcott was 
nearing the end of his twelve years of service in the Sen- 
ate and just after the Philadelphia National Convention 
in which he was one of the most conspicuous figures. The 
letter was one of his last to his mother, as she died early 
in the following year. 



INTEREST IN SPORTS 

ATHLETICS received no little encouragement from Mr. 
Wolcott. When a young man he was in the habit 
of indulging in long walks, of which he spoke with 
enthusiasm in his letters, showing that his enjoyment of 
them was quite unfeigned. The following from a letter to 
his father, written while he was living in one of the Boston 
suburbs in 1871, will suffice to indicate how vigorous a 
walker he was in those days : 

" I had taken very little exercise the last week. So I 
started yesterday, with a friend early in the morning and 
walked through Watertown, Newton Corner, Newton ville, 
West Newton, and Auburndale, then across to Waltham and 
back through Waverly, Bellemont, and Arlington, between 
twenty-five and thirty miles, and as a consequence feel much 
better to-day." 

We also hear considerable, through his correspondence, 
of the young man's interest in baseball, in which as an 
amateur he was a frequent participant in his youth. He 
learned bicycling and was quite an expert on the " safety " 
when it first came into use. On his last visit to Denver in 
1904 he walked from Fairmont Cemetery into the city, a 
distance of several miles. He was then far from well, but 
he enjoyed the exercise. For the most part, however, his 
interest in physical culture, during the later years of his 
life, was theoretical rather than practical; but even then 
he gave close attention to the general subject of athletics. 

Captain James T. Smith of Denver, himself an enthusiastic 
lover of outdoor sports, tells us that Mr. Wolcott was firmly 
convinced that Colorado would produce the very best athletic 

615 



616 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

skill. He was well informed concerning the records of Colo- 
rado performers in all branches of sport in and out of col- 
lege and never failed to manifest enthusiasm over an especial 
achievement by any of them. His views on the subject of 
rowing were expressed in an article by him published in 
the Georgetown Miner of July 10, 1873, when he was editor 
of that paper, and it is illustrative of his ideas on the 
general question of " sports." The article dealt with a 
regatta then about to be rowed at Springfield, Massachusetts, 
in which eleven colleges were expected to participate. In 
his handling of the subject Mr. Wolcott not only showed 
a thorough knowledge of the capacities of the various crews, 
but he learnedly discussed the general subject of training. 
Of the benefits to be derived from exercise with the oars, 
he said: 

Rowing is fast coming into general favor throughout the 
country, and it will not be strange if the annual races, between 
our various universities, become as generally observed and at- 
tended as is the Derby in England. The amusement is healthy, 
and recent investigations have proved that no ill effects need 
be apprehended from the training. Certainly it is better that 
our young men should strive to excel in these athletic sports, 
which require temperance and hard work, rather than squander 
their leisure hours in billiard halls and fast living; so let us 
lend what encouragement we can to all of them. 



THE FRANCHISE FOR WOMEN 

ONE of the most important and far-reaching official 
acts of the State of Colorado while Mr. Wolcott was 
in the Senate was that of conferring the right of 
suffrage on women. This step was taken in a State election 
in 1893, during Mr. Wolcott's first term in the Senate and 
during Governor Waite's administration. The question was 
submitted to the voters as the result of an act of the pre- 
vious Legislature. That was an " off " year in politics, as 
there were no State officers to be chosen. Consequently, the 
suffrage question was not involved in partisan matters. The 
contest was a sharp one, but the result was favorable to 
the sex, the majority in support of the proposition being 
about five thousand. 

The first opportunity afforded the ladies to exercise the 
newly conferred right came in connection with the cam- 
paign of 1894, and was generally taken advantage of. 
They, even more than the men, were disgusted with the 
turn that public affairs had taken in the State, and a ma- 
jority of them unquestionably exerted themselves to over- 
throw Waiteism. Mr. Wolcott had signalized his term in 
the State Senate by introducing a franchise bill, but had 
not otherwise given especial indication of favoring the move- 
ment. Upon the whole, however, he was accepted as a par- 
tisan of the cause, and when his campaign for re-election 
came on, as it soon did, many of the women gave him vigor- 
ous and effective support. He made frequent references 
during this campaign to the new condition in State politics, 
always indicating confidence that the influence of the oppo- 
site sex would have a beneficial effect upon politics. 

617 



618 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Upon his return to Denver in August, 1894, after an 
absence in Washington of some months, Mr. Wolcott was 
informed of a line of policy adopted by the Republican 
County Committee looking to the deprivation of the women 
members of the committee of their rights. He expressed 
deep regret over this occurrence. 

How unfortunate! [he exclaimed]. I can conceive no greater 
blunder than to shut out the women from a full share in thei 
duties of the campaign. We are fortunate to have the help of 
the women of the State in the impending struggle, and it is 
only through them that we can hope for success. The difficulty 
I had feared all along was that the good women of the State 
would shrink from exercising the rights the law gives them. I 
see my fears were groundless. Every possible inducement should 
be held out to secure their active co-operation. They are en- 
titled to a full participation in the work and responsibility of 
the campaign, and should not be denied it. 

On the memorable occasion of his reception by the ladies 
at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver on September 17th 
of the same year, he spoke directly to them, saying in part : 

I know of no honest desire which I might have as a citizen for 
the welfare of the State which is not shared by every good 
woman in Colorado for the same reason. The suffrage was ex- 
tended to you not because you are women, but because you are 
human beings with the same interest that every honest man 
has in the administration of government, with the same intel- 
ligence to bring to bear upon the questions at issue from time 
to time, with the same splendid love of your State and of your 
country. 

The hope to be obtained by suffrage is the advancement of 
society as a whole. This is to be accomplished by the enact- 
ment and the enforcement of good laws. There is nobody on 
earth more interested in the enactment and the enforcement of 
law than the good geniuses who preside over our homes and 
our firesides. Acrimony and hate have been the accompaniment 
of political campaigns almost since the history of our country. 
They bring no good; they settle no issue. I believe that with 
the advent of woman into politics and into government, much 
of that acrimony and hate will pass away. 



CHARACTERISTICS 619 

In December, soon after the close of the campaign, Sen- 
ator Wolcott united with Senator Teller in a letter con- 
cerning the operation of equal suffrage in the State. The 
statement was made in response to a request from Senator 
Hoar, who was a supporter of a movement for woman suf- 
frage in municipal government in Massachusetts, and it was 
wanted for use in a campaign in that State which had that 
end in view. The Colorado Senators did not content them- 
selves with testifying to the effect of equal suffrage in the 
Centennial State, which they declared to be good, but they 
entered upon an account of the participation of women in 
their first campaign, thus rendering the document of rare 
historical value. 

Prefacing their report with the announcement that their 
observations had been confined largely to Denver and to the 
Republican party, they said: 

Many weeks before the conventions were held, the women of 
the larger cities began to organize political clubs, composed 
exclusively of women, for the discussion of political questions. 
At these meetings men who had had experience or knowledge of 
political affairs were invited to make addresses, and frequent 
meetings were held. In Denver, and perhaps elsewhere in the 
State, parliamentary clubs were organized by the women for 
the purpose of enabling their members to familiarize themselves 
with the rules of parliamentary procedure. 

The women's political clubs attracted from the first a large 
membership which increased as the time for the conventions 
drew near, and the fact was developed that among the women 
themselves there were great interest and intelligence respecting 
political questions. It further appeared that there were among 
their own membership many women who were able to discuss 
the political situation clearly, intelligently, and effectively, and 
a few women developed unquestioned oratorical ability. 

The political machinery in Colorado, as in most of the States, 
includes committeemen for the different wards and precincts in 
all the large towns, and also a committeeman for each county 
in the State. The first step taken by the women was to secure 
some representation upon these committees. In some localities 
there was a little resistance to this suggestion, but, generally 
speaking, it was welcomed and the suggestion accepted as a 
valuable one, with the result that in each county of the State 



620 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

a woman acted as a member of the State committee with the 
male member of such committee from each county, and in the 
towns a woman was appointed in each precinct to act in an 
advisory capacity. 

The primary elections preceded the county and State con- 
ventions by a few days. The women's clubs had meanwhile been 
organized most effectively, and their members had made a house- 
to-house canvass of the most careful character, and they very 
generally interested themselves in the primary elections. In the 
history of Colorado there has never been an instance where 
the primaries have been so generally attended, and fully one third 
of the attendance in the cities was composed of women. The 
result was that the primaries were of the most orderly char- 
acter, entirely free from any sort of disorder or violence, and 
the result was accepted by all members of the party as being 
the full, free, and fair expression of the will of the voters. 

In the county conventions which followed the primaries the 
women were largely represented as delegates, and participated, 
though in a quiet and unobtrusive fashion, in their deliberations. 

A number of women from many counties in the State were 
elected as delegates to the State convention. This convention 
was the largest in the history of the State, and was more gen- 
erally attended in person and less by proxies than any other 
party convention since the State was created. It was held in 
a large theatre in Denver, and was composed of some eight 
hundred delegates, including a very marked sprinkling of women. 
Pending the report of the Committee on Credentials, and at a 
time when the convention was calling for speeches from members 
of its party from whom it was desired to hear, there were sev- 
eral women called for, who made brief addresses, and all of 
them were appreciatively listened to by the convention. In the 
proceedings of the convention the women took an active and 
efficient part. They had much to do with the shaping of the 
ticket, which was a very strong and acceptable one to the peo- 
ple of the State. 

The women also attended personally to the registration of 
the women in the different wards of Denver, and it was very 
fully and completely done. The work of the women was perhaps 
more important in this direction than in any other. There has 
never been known such careful, perfect, and complete registra- 
tion, and it was practically looked after in the larger cities by 
the women themselves. The election was remarkable in the fact 
that the vote was much larger than ever before in the history 



CHARACTERISTICS 621 

of the State. Not only was it larger because of the fact that 
the women voted, but the vote was much closer to the registra- 
tion than ever before. In Denver, where we were able par- 
ticularly to observe the working of suffrage, the reason for 
this is manifest. Some twenty-five thousand women voted in 
Denver. A far larger proportion of women who were registered 
voted than of men who were registered. The women were on 
hand early in the morning to cast their ballots; the great ma- 
jority of them had voted long before noon, and they devoted 
the remainder of the day to procuring the attendance of the 
women who had not theretofore voted. 

Another somewhat noteworthy fact concerning the election 
may be stated. It had always been assumed that the personal 
likes and dislikes of women would count for much when they 
came to exercise their right of suffrage. In this election, all 
these feelings were obliterated in their determination that the 
ticket that they advocated should win, and the overwhelming 
majority of the women voted straight tickets without change 
or erasure. 

In reviewing the occurrences of the election so far as women 
are concerned, we think the following are the fair and neces- 
sary conclusions: 

Women bring to the exercise of the right of suffrage an in- 
telligence fully equal to that of the male voter. They gave 
evidence of intense earnestness in the election. We feel it is 
yet to be determined whether or not this earnestness will be 
evinced generally in elections, or is to be attributed to the 
unusual state of facts existing at the time of the last election. 
One of the apparent results of the presence of women as par- 
ticipators in political matters is that political parties must ex- 
ercise greater care than before as to the character and standing 
of nominees for office. The tendency of the women is to stand 
by the party ticket, and not to let personal favor or prejudice 
affect the exercise of their right of suffrage. 

There were no unpleasant results apparent as the consequence 
of the voting by women at this election. There has been an 
undefined fear that the bestowal of the right might lead to 
certain offensive demonstrations in the way of what is termed 
the strong-mindedness of women. Nothing of the sort was in 
the slightest degree apparent. Women voted in a far greater pro- 
portion than men; they apparently felt they were performing 
a duty rather than exercising a privilege. Upon our State ticket 
a woman was nominated as Superintendent of Public Instruc- 



622 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

tion, and there were three women elected as members of the 
Legislature. There was no unusual desire on the part of the 
women of Colorado to be candidates for office, and the women 
who were nominated and elected received their nominations 
without wire-pulling in their behalf. 

Tn conclusion, we think we may say that in Colorado there 
is hardly a lover of good government who does not believe that 
the presence of women at the polls in November last was an 
undisguised blessing. If the question as to whether the right 
of suffrage should be bestowed on women should be again sub- 
mitted to the voters of Colorado, it would, in our opinion, be 
carried in the affirmative by a far greater majority than it 
received a year ago. The influence and vote of good women will 
always be cast for the preservation and permanence of the home 
and of our institutions, and their presence as an influence in 
determining public questions brings hope and promise for the 
future of our country. 

If there was any hesitation in Mr. Wolcott's endorse- 
ment of equal suffrage it was due to the apprehension that 
good women, occupied with other matters and trustful of 
their husbands and brothers, might fail to avail themselves 
of the privilege. The right once extended, he urged its ex- 
ercise by women having the public welfare in mind. With 
their active co-operation, he was assured that the change 
would result in improved conditions. 



The Long Fight for the Coinage 
of Silver 



623 



THE LONG FIGHT FOR THE COINAGE OF SILVER 

TO no other question did Mr. Wolcott give so much at- 
tention while in the Senate as the coinage of silver as 
money, and, notwithstanding the apparent paucity of 
results, the capacity he displayed in that interest must form 
the basis of all proper estimates of him as a legislative 
advocate. Not only was his first Senatorial speech made in 
behalf of silver, but scarcely a session during his twelve 
years of service was permitted to pass in which he did not 
lift his voice in support of the white metal. Beginning his 
work by assisting in the passage in lglfcT'of the bill authoriz- °l b 
ing the purchase of 4,500,000 ounces of silver a month 
(which subsequently, though inappropriately, took the name 
of the "Sherman Law"), he two years later did all in 
his power to prevent the repeal of that law, and, failing in 
that effort, he concentrated every energy upon an effort to 
obtain an international agreement looking to the recognition 
of silver as a coinage metal on an equality with gold. He 
made many speeches on the different phases of the subject 
and ever was willing to devote any resource at the command 
of his fertile mind to the advancement of the cause. He 
entered the Senate a silver advocate and he left it a silver 
advocate. 

The pages of a biography are no place for any elaborate 
presentation of the silver question as such; but during the 
two concluding decades of the nineteenth century, political 
developments in the United States were so deflected by 
this great issue, and Mr. Wolcott's relations with his State 
and his party were so intimately influenced by these develop- 
ments, that a short retrospective survey is essential to a 

vol. 1.-40 625 



> 



626 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

right understanding of the history of the period and of his 
place in that history. 

From times almost prehistoric the two metals had been 
admitted freely to the leading mints of the world, and jointly 
they had constituted the international volume of full legal- 
tender money, the expansion or contraction of which volume 
raised or depressed the entire level of wages and prices. 
But in 1873 the world's established currency system was 
tampered with, first by one national legislature, then by 
another. To the United States belongs a doubtful pre- 
eminence. In February, 1873, the sur reptitio us demonetiza- 
tion of silver was procured at Washington. Almost on the 
heels of this action came the attempt of the German Govern- 
ment to exchange the whole mass of its currency at the 
French mints for its gold equivalent, and this move was 
followed by the enforced closing of the French mints to the 
free coinage of silver. Thus in 1873 the question of silver 
became a matter of extreme urgency. The production of 
gold from the world's mines was rapidly diminishing. Pro- 
fessor Suess and other leading geologists were of the opinion 
that the prospect for further considerable gold discoveries 
was not hopeful. Meanwhile prices of commodities were 
falling fast and the added burden of debt, whether national 
or private, was threatening a social upheaval. 

In 1878 on the initiative of Congress, President Hayes 
issued invitations to the first Monetary Conference at Paris. 
It was perhaps natural, even though some may regard it 
as unfortunate, that the silver-mining States should have 
been the first to resent this novel proscription of silver and 
that the arguments of some of their representatives in Con- 
gress should have been based on the restricted ground of 
protection to a native industry. Be that as it may, the 
question thus emerging as a "local issue" immediately ob- 
tained the philosophic endorsement of the leading professors 
of political economy. On the continent of Europe the bril- 
liant pens of Emile de Laveleye, of Wolowski, and of Cer- 
nnsr-hi we re at work before Washington was fairly awakened. 
In Great Britain the younger professors, such as Foxwell and 
Shield Nicholson, were teaching in their schools the necessity 
of what had now begun to be called "Bimetallism," and 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 627 

the franc-tireurs and skirmishers in the coming Battle of the 
Standards were in evidence over a very wide field. In 
the United States, Professor Francis A. Walker, whose for- 
mative influence in the field of economics is admitted even 
in Europe to be greater than that of any teacher since John 
Stuart Mill, was writing the whole theory of the concurrent 
legal tender of the two metals in his great work Money, a 
work destined to be translated into seven languages. From 
every direction the note of warning was borne in on the 
legislatures as to the perils of that novel experiment, the 
" Crime of 1873." Save only two, the political protagonists 
within the halls of Congress have now gone over to the 
majority upon the farther shore of time. But for those two 
survivors, Henry M. Teller of Colorado and John P. Jones 
of Nevada, it is fair to claim an undisputed pre-eminence in 
the laboriously acquired philosophy of this question. Gen- 
eral A. J. Warner, of Ohio, one of the most consistent and 
efficient of American silver-coinage advocates died after the 
preparation of this work was begun. 

Fully acquainted with this history and intensely awake 
to the situation, Mr. Wolcott was from the beginning a 
loyal supporter of the double standard. He believed in 
bimetallism because he believed bimetallism right, Find- 
ing that from the beginning of history until very recent 
times silver had been given the same recognition as gold, 
as a money metal, though at a lower valuation, he believed 
that the long-established order was in the interest of the 
general welfare. He was distinctly a hard-money man- 
never a greenbacker; but he did not believe that the gold 
stock afforded a sufficient money basis for the accommoda- 
tion of the currency of the world. He adhered to the quanti- 
tative theory regarding money, and, believing that the 
complete disuse of silver as money would cause untold suffer- 
ing by reducing the volume of the circulating medium, he 
opposed the policy as unjust and inhuman. 

To what extent his views were influenced by environ- 
ment he probably could not himself have told. Represent- 
ing a constituency whose chief industrial interest lay in 
silver mining, he foresaw the devastation that must follow 



628 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

any adverse action, and that his big heart was touched by 
the prospect there are many evidences. But he did not 
admit the local influence as controlling; he maintained that 
the question was of world-wide importance and his interest 
general and not sectional. Possibly the material interest of 
his State in promoting the commercial value of the white 
metal had the effect originally of causing him to investigate 
more closely the silver side of the money question than he 
would have done under other circumstances, and to this 
extent we may concede the influence of surroundings and 
of local interest. 

Was he right in his contention that silver coinage is 
essential to the welfare of the world? His speeches were 
made from ten to twenty years before the preparation of 
this volume was undertaken. In them he prophesied dis- 
aster as the result of the general adoption of the single gold 
standard. It will be said that the prophecies have not been 
realized. Nor have they been fully or continuously. Was, 
then, our orator a real prophet? 

The reader of Mr. Wolcott's speeches must not pro- 
nounce against him simply because he finds that prosperity 
has been as much the rule since the general official pro- 
nouncement against silver as it was before that edict went 
forth. The purpose of this volume is to record facts rather 
than to propound argument, but it cannot be considered out 
of place to mention the one circumstance that in no pre- 
vious period of like duration has there been anything like 
so large a production of gold as there has been since the 
general demonetization of silver. Almost coincident with 
the shutting down of the silver mines, as a result of this 
disparaging action, came the opening up of vast new gold 
fields. 

As if in response to the command of a master, as soon 
as silver was discredited, the prospectors of Colorado turned 
their backs on the silver croppings and began to search 
for gold. The result was that they found much of the yellow 
metal where hitherto they had looked only for its white com- 
panion. Cripple Creek soon began to pour its twenty or 
thirty millions a year into the lap of the world; Leadville 
was transformed from a silver to a gold camp; Gilpin County 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 629 

and the San Juan region continued sending out large supplies 
of gold. 

The result of the newly directed effort was that the 
Centennial State soon took as a gold producer the lead 
which hitherto it had held as a producer of silver. Other 
of the Rocky Mountain States also increased their gold out- 
put, and the gold-producing activity of the United States 
was reflected throughout the mineral-yielding world. The 
frozen north came to the front with its Klondyke and Nome, 
and the yellow stream that soon began to flow from the 
direction of the North Pole was met by even a larger cur- 
rent from the Transvaal of far-away South Africa. Thus 
there was no lapse. As if providentially, the loss of silver 
was made good by the increase of gold. 

Is there not, after all, then, some justification of Mr. 
Wolcott's quantitative theory in the present situation? 
Who can say what the result upon the human race would 
have been but for this fortunate augmentation of the gold 
supply? Who can say that but for the new gold discoveries 
the Wolcott prophecies would not have been realized even 
now? And, alas! who can say that with a diminution of 
gold production there may not be yet a fulfilment of the 
predictions of the Colorado Senator? Ten or twenty years 
is a very brief period of history. Prophecy covers a much 
longer time. 

Not only did Mr. Wolcott enter the Senate an advocate 
of the free coinage of silver, but he favored its coinage by 
the United States regardless of the action of other nations. 
He left it an advocate of international co-operation. This 
is a broad statement of fact, and, like many broad state- 
ments, would do injustice if left unqualified or unexplained. 
In the beginning of his Senatorial career he did not con- 
sider international action possible of attainment; otherwise 
he would not have opposed it. Toward the end he saw 
that silver coinage was out of the question except by such 
international action, and, in addition, there was such a 
change in world conditions that for a time a general move- 
ment in behalf of the white metal did not seem improbable. 

In view of the fact that Mr. W T olcott's silver speeches 



630 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

are published, there will be no effort to review them here. 
Only brief extracts from them will be given, and these will 
be inserted for the purpose of showing his attitude from 
time to time — of giving point to the narrative. 

If space permitted, it would be both profitable and edify- 
ing to insert more extended excerpts, for the purpose of 
illustrating his force as a speaker and his skill as a tacti- 
cian, for seldom if ever has a more forcible or a more con- 
vincing campaign been made in the interest of a losing 
cause. No man who ever sat in the Senate had greater 
capacity for sarcasm than the Colorado Senator, and few 
could plead more effectively. But, superior as he was in those 
directions, his greatest strength lay in his logic; in his direct- 
ness of speech and his appeal to reason. All of his great 
powers were used in this, to him, the dearest of all interests. 

Courageous to the verge of rashness when conviction was 
involved, he did not hesitate to attack a foe, concealed or 
open, with all the weapons at his command, and many and 
pronounced were the conflicts with opposing Senators over 
this same silver question. In one breath he resented all 
accusations of personal interest in silver on the part of 
the people of the West and chided the East for attempting 
to break down and destroy so great an industry as silver 
mining. But so greatly charmed were all by his manner 
and by his convincing argument in support of each branch 
of his contention that no one pointed out this inconsistency. 
Every possible appeal was made to all sections and all 
parties. He showed that both Republicans and Democrats 
had pledged themselves to stand to the bitter end for silver, 
the Republicans in former years, the Democrats more re- 
cently. To the New En glanders he intimated that anti- 
si her legislation might be followed by the abandonment 
by i he West of the Protective policy; the Southern Senators, 
whose pel theories had been attacked by the Force Bill, were 
reminded of the assistance that had been given by their 
Western colleagues in defeating that measure. Knowing 
the partiality of the Senate to the privilege of unlimited de- 
bate, when the talk on the bill repealing the purchasing 
clause of the Sherman law had proceeded for several weeks 
and there was an attempt to curtail the speech-making by 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 631 

a rule of cloture, he announced a willingness to submit, 
but said that the rule must be general and for all time 
and not special and confined to the Silver Bill. He espe- 
cially chided Senator Sherman of Ohio for repudiating the 
platforms of the Republican party, and he took the utmost 
delight in flaying Senator Hill of New York and Senator 
Voorhees of Indiana, both Democrats, because, while pro- 
fessing to be friendly to silver, they still were advocates 
of repeal. Of Mr. Hill he said : " He keeps the word of 
promise to our ear and breaks it to our hope " ; of Mr. 
Voorhees : " His words were writ in water." 

Briefly reviewing the course of Mr. Wolcott in the Sen- 
ate, we find him making his first speech in advocacy of the 
passage of the Sherman law providing for the annual pur- 
chase, for coinage in the American mints, of 54,000,000 ounces 
of silver. By the time this speech was delivered, June 17, 
1890, it had become evident that President Harrison would 
oppose any effort at independent free coinage by the United 
States, and the discovery was a sore disappointment to the 
pro-silver men. His previous utterances had justified them 
in looking for something better. Never awed by high func- 
tionaries, the Colorado Senator did not hesitate to attack 
from his seat in the Senate the President's position, and 
the attack was so forceful and so eloquent that it commanded 
universal attention. 

As going to show his general attitude on many phases 
of the question during the early days of his Senatorial 
career, the following extract from a speech made by Mr. 
Wolcott March 1, 1893, may be quoted: 

The people of the West are for silver, not alone because they 
produce it, but because they believe in hard money, gold and 
silver; because they believe there is not gold enough in the 
country to stand back of the credit of the nation in the propor- 
tion that money should stand back of credit. I believe the time 
is surely coming when the people of the West who do thus be- 
lieve will stand like a stone wall with the people of the East 
against the issue of irredeemable paper and fiat money. We 
are silver people because we believe that the credit of the Gov- 
ernment should be properly backed. A majority of us are Re- 
publicans. If it conies to a question between silver and the 



632 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Republican party, we are for silver; but we do not believe tbat 
well-advised and sincere patriots will ask that that be made a 
party issue. We continue our allegiance in the ranks of the 
Republican party because we cannot but believe that better 
counsels and wiser judgment will not attempt upon a financial 
question which has no place in party politics to drive men out 
of a political party in which they were born and whose principles 
they love. 

Mr. Wolcott's anti-repeal views on silver were concretely 
outlined in a page contribution made by him to Harper's 
Weekly of May 27, 1893. A few extracts from that article 
are therefore reproduced as follows : 

The West believes in the free coinage of silver because its 
people have been taught, as has the whole civilized world out- 
side the money centres, that the stock of gold in the world is 
insufficient for the needs of the world in the transaction of its 
business, and that the annual supply applicable for coinage by 
no means keeps pace with the growing demands of commerce and 
increasing population, the development of vast areas of country, 
new industries which invention and enterprise are creating, and 
the infinite and constantly extending needs for money as a 
medium of exchange in new communities remote from old 
commercial centres. 

The vast majority of the people cherishing these convictions 
are solvent, intelligent, thoughtful citizens, to whom the national 
well-being and the stability of our institutions are as dear as 
life itself. They have no sympathy with paternalism, or with 
any movement which shall rob human effort of the fruits of 
industry and ability. 

An international coinage agreement would be of incalculable 
benefit, but without it the United States, with free coinage at 
the present ratio, would maintain the parity of the metals. 

REPEAL OF THE SHERMAN LAW 

With the extraordinary session of Congress in 1893 came 
the greatest of all silver contests. Called for the express 
purpose of repealing the Silver Purchase Law, that subject 
received undivided attention during the three months the 
session continued, from August 7th to November 3d. The 
measure was put through the House after very brief dis- 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 633 

cussion, so that almost all the time of the session was con- 
sumed by the Senate. There never was much hope for the 
opponents of Repeal, but they struggled to the last, even going 
to the extent of conducting an open filibuster to postpone 
the day of fate. Mr. Wolcott was an active participant in 
these proceedings, and at all times was prepared to go to 
the front when necessity demanded sharp and effective 
speech. 

In his call for the special session President Cleveland 
had specified no other subject for consideration. Finding, 
as he said in his proclamation, that " the present perilous 
condition is largely the result of a financial policy which 
the Executive branch of the Government finds embodied in 
unwise laws which must be executed until repealed by Con- 
gress," he convened Congress " to the end that the people 
may be relieved through legislation from present and im- 
pending danger and disaster." In his message to Congress, 
which was received August 8th, the day after Congress met, 
the President said: 

I earnestly recommend the prompt repeal of the provisions 
of the act passed July 14, 1890, authorizing the purchase of 
silver bullion, and such legislative action as may put beyond all 
doubt or mistake the intention and the ability of the Govern- 
ment to fulfil its pecuniary obligations in money universally 
recognized by all civilized countries. 

Thus the single object of the session was plainly an- 
nounced, and it had not long proceeded when the Repeal 
Bill was brought in. 

Strangely enough the question of international agree- 
ment received attention from Mr. Wolcott in the first speech 
made by him on the bill, and it shows not only his own 
state of mind, but the general view of the American silver 
advocates of the time. He said : 

The friendship for silver expressed by every member of each 
House of Congress who has spoken on this question is re- 
markable and unanimous. No Senator in favor of the un- 
conditional repeal of the Sherman Act has failed to announce 
in solemn words his belief in bimetallism. The statement may 



634 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

be soothing to his conscience, but it serves no other purpose so 
far as favorable legislation is concerned. The Senators who 
state that they are bimetallists, but that international agree- 
ment is necessary before we can adopt the double standard, 
misstate the proposition. International agreement must depend 
on the attitude of Great Britain. If Great Britain consents to 
a double standard, they are bimetallists. The policy of Great 
Britain, which they are powerless to shape or to control, is 
the policy they advocate. They are willing to sacrifice not only 
a great region of our country, whose resources are of infinitely 
more material value to the East than all our trade with Great 
Britain, but also the welfare and prosperity of every farmer 
and toiler in the land, in order that we may be in entire accord 
with Great Britain in our financial policy. 

Later in the same speech, he said : 

We are constantly assured that our abandonment of silver 
will force England to an international agreement. This may 
be true. There is not gold enough in the world to do its business, 
and some day this will be recognized by monometallist coun- 
tries. But the time is far away. Capital is strong and selfish. 
This Senate Chamber to-day is the best possible exemplification 
of its power, and a long period of suffering and a shrinkage will 
pass before we return to the double standard. 

A few weeks afterward, on October 9th, he spoke even 
derisively of international action, saying: 

The people of this country, the largest producer of the pre- 
cious metals, who believe in the double standard, are referred 
to Great Britain for legislation and for relief. International 
agreement is a chimera, a myth. Two members of the late 
conference are in this body. They will not hesitate to tell us 
that there is no hope for it at this time, Without Great 
Britain's assent it is impossible. Why should she consent? 
Her policy is plain, her interests are evident. 

Then followed this wonderful picture of the result of 
repeal, which all too soon was to be partially, though 
fortunately, only temporarily realized: 

Meanwhile the sections heretofore devoted to the search for 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 635 

silver will become largely depopulated. The mines will fill with 
water, the timbers which sustain their walls will rot, the vast 
industries dependent for success on the mining regions will be- 
come bankrupt, and a generation will not serve to renew their 
prosperity, even after silver may be remonetized. The in- 
vestments in railroads, mines, smelters, and other property 
directly and fatally affected by the action recommended by the 
Finance Committee aggregate more than $1,000,000,000, and they 
are all to be sacrificed that we may make our financial policy 
in exact accord with Great Britain, the creditor of the world. 

Probably in no connection did he more forcibly present 
in condensed form his reasons for his position than in the 
following from one of his speeches of 1893 : 

The people of the far Northwest favor the resumption of the 
free coinage of silver because they believe in the principle of 
bimetallism. We are not inflationists ; but we do not advocate 
fiat money. We believe that, as the Senator from Nevada [Mr. 
Jones] so aptly put it, the rude obstacles which nature inter- 
poses offer a better safeguard for the people than the wisdom 
or unwisdom of their rulers. We oppose the single standard 
because there is not enough gold to do the business of the world 
and furnish the inhabitants with the currency they need. 

The history of all times has shown that a scarcity of cir- 
culating medium means a continuous fall in prices, depression 
in business activity, the impoverishment of the people, and a 
decline in civilization. The last twenty years have but em- 
phasized the experience of the centuries. Silver has not de- 
preciated; gold has appreciated. The double standard lessens 
the tension which may be caused by the lessened production of 
the one metal or the increased production of the other. It 
secures to the debtor at the maturity of his debt money of the 
value he received when his debt was incurred. The two metals 
together furnish a standard which has permanency, stability, 
accessibility, and is a suitable and adequate measure of value. 

Mr. President, the question as to whether silver shall by the 
passage of the bill before us be finally demonetized is national 
and not local. The claims we urge in behalf of the recognition 
of silver are not pressed because we of the mountains ask 
your sympathy for a region which your proposed action would 
impoverish and ruin. If we represented any other section, with 
our knowledge of the possibilities of the great West, we would 



636 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

be equally tenacious for the preservation of the white metal as 
a standard of value. No man removed from the money centre, 
and realizing the illimitable resources of this Republic and its 
constantly expanded needs, will ever stand for the contraction 
of a currency already insufficient. 

Our interests, our hopes, and aspirations are identical with 
those of the other sections of our country which are borrowers 
and not lenders; with those of the Carolinas, of Alabama and 
Mississippi, and Arkansas and Missouri, the Dakotas and Wash- 
ington in the remote Northwest. We demand the coinage of 
both metals because the history of our country and of all lands 
has taught us that they afford the safest and most adequate 
basis for the currency of the people. 

We are not influenced by our environment. It is true that 
for a generation at least many States, some of them larger in 
population than any one of three of the New England States, 
and having greater resources, minerals included, than all of 
them put together, will suffer if this bill shall become a law, 
to an extent impossible to describe, and which in our lifetime 
cannot be repaired; but we can endure it. The strong will 
survive and the weak will go to the wall. It is the lot of 
man. But before you complete your work, I beg of you to 
pause long enough to realize that this is the first time in the 
history of republics — nay, even of governments — that a people 
devoted to one of the noblest of human industries, the search 
for the precious metals of the world, were doomed to destruction 
by their fellow-men because they produced too much of them. 

Almost immediately after the repeal of the Sherman 
Law Mr. Wolcott began to investigate the possibility of 
obtaining international action in the interest of bimetallism. 
But he moved with caution, and in the meantime he exerted 
every effort to find a means of relieving the situation and 
of easing the blow which had been struck at the silver-pro- 
ducing industry. In that interest he at one time proposed 
a resolution inviting negotiations with Mexico looking to 
the coinage of Mexican dollars in the mints of the United 
States and out of metal produced in the mines of this coun- 
try, and at another, he introduced a resolution providing for 
the coinage of the silver seigniorage which, owing to the far 
greater value of silver as coin than as bullion, was no in- 
considerable sum. The former proposition failed of passage, 



LONG FIGHT FOE COINAGE OF SILVER 637 

but the seigniorage measure went through Congress. On 
both bills Mr. Wolcott spoke at length, and after the veto 
of the Seigniorage Bill he made a review of the silver ques- 
tion as affected by politics, in which he plainly indicated 
that because of the President's position, as well as because 
of the opposition of the Eastern States, he recognized the 
hopelessness of further effort in the interest of independent 
coinage by the United States. In the course of this speech, 
which was delivered on the 9th of April, 1894, he said: 

We were told by Senators upon this floor, including members 
of the Finance Committee, that as soon as the infamous Sher- 
man Act should be brushed aside, the first moment would be 
utilized in reintroducing a bill for the free and unlimited coin- 
age of silver, for which the President of the United States would 
undoubtedly stand as sponsor. That position has been some- 
what cleared. If by this veto any one thing has been made 
clear to the minds of the people of the United States, it is 
that its Chief Executive is the consistent and implacable and 
eager enemy of silver. He has been consistent throughout and 
has had the courage of the convictions of the national banks 
and the trust companies of the United States, to all of which 
the name of silver is a stench and an offence. 

The veto has further shown us that the silver sentiment of 
the country is local and not political. In the New England 
States and in the Northeast both parties have vied with each 
other in adulation and praise of the President's action, while 
in the rest of the country the veto has been viewed with sorrow 
and with indignation. In the New England States and in the 
Northeast the unanimous feeling is that the President of the 
United States is infinitely better than his party. So universal 
is this the prevailing sentiment that the Democracy of that 
section apparently intend to endorse the openly expressed con- 
tempt of the President of the United States for the Democratic 
party at large by voting overwhelmingly in favor of the Repub- 
lican ticket; while in the West and South, irrespective of party, 
there is a prevailing and unanimous sentiment that the Presi- 
dent of the United States has betrayed not only the platform 
of his party but the interests of his people, and that he has 
treated the just claims of those great States of the Union, which 
are devoted to mining and to agriculture, which are borrowers 
and not lenders, with scorn and with derision. 



638 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

The veto has further taught us that during the incumbency 
of the present Executive there is no hope whatever for the 
cause of bimetallism. And the self-respect of those of us who 
believe that the day of prosperity will never come to this coun- 
try again until silver is rehabilitated and restored to its place 
as a money metal should require of us that we advocate and 
vote for no makeshift and no temporary expedient. If the 
lesson is to be learned it may as well be learned during the 
present Administration as at any other time; and we owe it 
to our own dignity, and the respect due the cause, that we 
oppose upon this floor every measure which does not follow 
upon the lines of the free and unlimited coinage of silver at 
the ratio of 15y 2 or 16 to 1. 

INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT 

In the spring of 1893, Mr. Wolcott was compelled to go 
to Europe on account of the precarious condition of his 
health, and while in England and France he met many of 
the bimetallists of those two countries. From all of these 
he received encouragement to believe that an agreement 
for a general recognition of the white metal could be 
brought about. Indeed, generally, the Europeans showed a 
willingness to take the initiative in urging the wisdom of 
a movement by the United States in the interest of a new 
international conference. But, while as zealous in their 
advocacy of silver coinage as he was, they were united in 
preaching the necessity for concerted action. 

Soon after Senator Wolcott's return to the United States 
the following statement regarding this visit, evidently 
authorized by him, was published: 

Senator Wolcott had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Balfour 
socially and had a very enjoyable time with him in London. 
The silver question was discussed in all its relations, and while 
Mr. Wolcott knew, of course, that Mr. Balfour was a strong 
advocate of bimetallism, he was surprised to find him so deeply 
interested and thoroughly informed on this question, especially 
in view of the fact that Mr. Balfour's efforts in behalf of the 
double standard were purely philanthropic and based upon the 
belief that the masses were suffering untold calamities by reason 
of the adoption of the single standard, the demonetization of 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 639 

silver, and the great increase in the purchasing power and value 
of gold. 

Mr. Wolcott went abroad again in 1894, this time with 
a far more friendly inclination toward concerted action 
than before. He had thought much of what he had heard 
on the previous visit, had become convinced of the sincerity 
of his European friends, and was almost satisfied that they 
were right in their contention that the only road to the 
rehabilitation of silver lay through general international 
co-operation. Unquestionably the closing of the Indian 
mints and the cessation of the large and regular monthly 
purchases of silver by the United States were forcible factors 
in bringing him to this point of view. At any rate, he now 
was found a willing listener to the suggestions of his Eng- 
lish and French friends who had differed from him only on 
the one point of the method of carrying bimetallism into 
execution. He was forced to concede that because of its 
comprehensiveness their plan was preferable. But was it 
practicable? For a time it seemed to be. 

In 1894 there were many interviews with people of distinc- 
tion on the silver question, and there was one notable dinner 
in London, given by Sir William Houldsworth, at which the 
unofficial American envoy received much encouragement to 
believe that even England might be influenced to grant such 
concessions as hitherto had not been considered possible. 
The dinner was tendered to a number of Americans of dis- 
tinction, including Senator Wolcott, Hon. W. C. Whitney, 
General Francis A. Walker, and Mr. Brooks Adams, and 
there were invited to meet them the Right Honorable Arthur 
J. Balfour, the Right Honorable Henry Chaplin, the Right 
Honorable William Lidderdale, Mr. Gibbs, Mr. Grenfell, 
Mr. Moreton Frewen, Mr. Herman Schmidt, Prof. Foxwell, 
Mr. Heseltine, and Mr. Murray Guthrie, all more or less 
pronounced advocates of bimetallism. Indeed, it was an 
informal, unauthorized international conference on silver 
under the guise of a social function. 

There were a number of speeches, and most of them were 
encouraging. There was an exception in the case of Mr. 
Chaplin. Quite as earnest a bimetallist as any present and 



610 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

just as desirous of success, he still did not fail to point 
out the great difficulties in the way, principal of which 
were the conservative character of the English people and 
the self-interest of the London bankers. The sequel proved 
that he was right, for there can be little doubt that, what- 
ever the instrument with which the final blow was struck, 
the London influence directed it. 1 His speech was not, how- 
ever, intended to throw a damper on the movement for a 
conference, and at the time it received comparatively little 
attention. 

Senator Wolcott was among the speakers. He said: 

I feel that much more real interest attaches to the attitude 
of Mr. Whitney and General Walker at the present time than 
to the attitude and efforts of those who think with me that 
the United States with open mints can single-handed act as the 
world's money-changer, and can maintain the parity of the 
metals. And seeing that for three years to come no effective 
silver legislation can be secured at Washington, such legisla- 
tion during President Cleveland's term being impossible, the 
bimetallic contest has to-day shifted itself from Washington 
to Westminster. But I am glad to endorse General Walker's 
assertion to-night that ninety per cent, of the people of the 
United States are earnest and convinced bimetallists. The ques- 
tion then for us in the United States is not one of principles, 
but of methods only — how best we can encourage action on the 
part of Great Britain ; and this being the position we think, 
some of us, that perhaps the offer to your colonies and India 
of lower tariffs as contrasted with prohibitive tariffs may attract 
your colonial premiers to a little friendly but determined gird- 
ling at Downing Street. I notice, however, that just as a dis- 
tinguished American humorist was prepared to demonstrate his 

1 In his Autobiography, Senator Hoar, who gave much attention to 
the question of an international agreement, attributes the failure of 
the mission to the influence of the London banks. " I conjecture," he 
says, " that the English Administration, although a majority of the 
Government, and probably a majority of the Conservative party, were 
bimetallists and favored an international arrangement on principle, did 
not like to disturb existing conditions at the risk of offending the 
banking interests of London, especially those which had charge of the 
enormous foreign investments, the value of which would be constantly 
increasing so long as their debts were payable, principal and interest, 
in gold, the value of which, also, was steadily appreciating." 






LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 641 

patriotism by sending his wife's relatives to the field of battle, 
so also, whether in Australia or at the Cape, England at the 
present time contemplates the sufferings of her relatives with 
considerable equanimity. 

In concluding a speech that was followed with very close 
attention Senator Wolcott said that just as the promise of 
improvement to come immediately after the repeal of the 
Sherman Act had been delusive, so also the improvement 
to follow after tariff reform might be not less visionary, and 
that many who had voted for repeal less than a year since 
were likely at the coming elections to accept the alternative 
of free coinage. 

As in London, the Colorado Senator's reception in Paris 
was again cordial, and upon the whole his investigations 
greatly strengthened his conviction in favor of an inter- 
national movement. He reached the conclusion that Europe 
might inaugurate such a course at any time, and he de- 
termined to do all that he could to place the United States 
in the way of co-operation in case it should be undertaken. 

Accordingly, having returned to the United States, on 
the 23d of February, 1895, he introduced in the Senate 
as an amendment to an appropriation bill a measure pro- 
viding for the appointment of a commission. This provision 
was incorporated in the law and, wiiile no action was taken 
under its authority, it proved the forerunner of the subse- 
quent legislation under which the Wolcott Commission was 
appointed. This amendment authorized participation by the 
United States in any international monetary conference that 
might be determined upon by the European powers. In 
presenting it, Mr. Wolcott said that he had felt under some 
embarrassment from the fact that it might be construed 
abroad as indicating an undue desire on the part of this 
country for an international compact, but, taking all the 
circumstances into consideration, he had concluded that it 
would be wise to give the authority in order that the ap- 
pointment of commissioners might be made, if occasion 
should arise for them during the Congressional recess which 
then was approaching. In his comment he could not resist 
the opportunity to take a fling at the professed bimetallists 






642 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

who had not shown their faith by their works. " It is," 
he said, " entirely satisfactory to those bimetallists who vote 
for bimetallism; it should be equally satisfactory to that 
devoted band of bimetallists who talk for us and vote against 
us, and who look with ravished eyes for English approval 
before they register their votes." He added: " We are for 
the establishment of bimetallism by the United States alone. 
If other countries will join us so much the better." 

Speaking again on the 28th of the same month to the 
same amendment, Mr. Wolcott gave utterance to a few sen- 
tences showing the real reason for his interest in silver 
coinage. 

The result of my studies [he said] is the conviction that the 
suffering and poverty all over the world have been caused by 
the abandonment of silver and the appreciating value of gold. 
If by any act of mine I could bring all over the world some 
amelioration of existing conditions, I should feel that I had 
played an important part in the legislation of my country ; and 
as a citizen of a Christian nation I should be unwilling to shut 
out from view the nations of the world. 

Replying to objections to the measure from Senator 
Stewart of Nevada, Mr. Wolcott briefly referred to the 
struggles of the European bimetallists. 

Why, Mr. President [he asked], does the Senator from Nevada 
forget that, under the most unfavorable circumstances, all 
through these years the bimetallist party of England, with both 
the great parties against it, has been struggling year after 
year to make its converts ; that in the heart of the great creditor 
nation of the world, where every instinct of every man who has 
a dollar due him is to oppose silver, these men have, unaided, 
fought a gallant fight with such glorious outcome that the other 
day in the House of Commons the leader of the party in power 
did not dare to oppose a motion made by a member in behalf 
of bimetallism? [He added:] Rather than contest it in the 
House of Commons he yielded his opposition, and, declining to 
permit the vote to be taken, abandoned the position which for 
years the Liberal party has held, and virtually announced that 
for years the English Government would share in any inter- 



LONG FIGHT FOE COINAGE OF SILVER 643 

national conference which might be called upon the question 
of bimetallism. 

So in Germany, where the owners of land have gradually 
seen their land grow less in value; against the Government, 
against the great banking houses of Berlin and the other Ger- 
man centres, the bimetallists have steadily, year by year, fought 
their fight, until in spite of the opposition of the Government, 
the Socialists, and the Radicals, they have forced the Reichstag 
to agree practically to the calling of an international conference. 

The Senator from Nevada refers to the Republic of France, 
as if that country might not favor international bimetallism! 
Fortunately I have just received an accurate statement of what 
took place in the French Assembly the other day upon an inter- 
pellation on this very subject; and with the permission of the 
Senate I will read it, for it is vital to the great questions which 
are now at stake. 



He then read a statement showing marked progress by 
the bimetallic movement in the French Republic, and, con- 
tinuing, said : 

So, Mr. President, does this great question press forward. 
In England success is almost at hand. In Germany success is 
practically reached. In France there is hearty co-operation. 
This movement has been brought about not by our enemies, but 
by our friends ; by earnest men who have the solemn conviction 
that prosperity and civilization can be advanced only by a return 
to the double standard. We in this country, certainly in my 
section, believe that America alone can maintain the double 
standard. But, for that reason, shall we reject advances of 
other countries? 

Mr. President, in the six years I have been in the Senate 
I have seen wandering about these corridors, day after day 
and week after week, the same hungry faces of lean men with 
claims pending before Congress. I am told some of them have 
been here thirty years and more, seeking some payment or 
restitution by Congress of something they have lost. So day 
after day they haunt these chambers, and they plot and plan 
and dream. If they met success and Congress should give them 
what they seek, they would die. So I fear it is true with some 
of the advocates of bimetallism. They have preached their gos- 
pel, their true gospel of salvation, so long, that, if the people 



644 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

of the world became converted, their occupation would be gone 
and they would have to close up shop. 

I am for bimetallism not because I want to fight; I am for 
bimetallism — and I am for waging an unceasing fight for its 
accomplishment — because I believe that out of the contest we 
can bring success. And for that reason, Mr. President, I stand 
for the amendment as it is. We are for American bimetallism, 
with or without international agreement, but if we fail to grasp 
the extended hand of other countries when it reaches out to meet 
ours, we will deserve and receive the eternal odium which should 
attach to us for having failed to embrace the greatest oppor- 
tunity that has been since silver was stricken down. 

Speaking in Denver on August 13, 1894, of his observa- 
tions in England, Mr. Wolcott said: 

I happened to be in England when Professor Francis A. 
Walker, Brooks Adams, ex-Secretary Whitney, and other promi- 
ment Americans were there, and attended a banquet at which 
I met many English bimetallists. This and other meetings have 
served to bring the bimetallists of both countries into closer 
alliance and will result in much good. It is none the less true, 
however, that there is no sound reason why this country should 
wait for the action of Great Britain. My own belief is that 
if the United States entered on the free and unlimited coinage 
of silver and at the same time maintained a fair protective tariff 
Great Britain would be more speedily forced into bimetallism 
than by any other pressure. 

Our great hope in England must lie in a change of Govern- 
ment. The first advantage was gained by the retirement of 
Gladstone, who was the open enemy of silver. Lord Rosebery 
has never declared himself hostile to the white metal, and many 
of his friends express a hope, from what they know of him, that 
he will not oppose it. At best, however, it will be a long time 
before we can hope for any radical change in the policy of Great 
Britain on this question. 

The present English policy toward India is admitted to be 
a failure. I am inclined to think that Great Britain would 
even now be glad to make concessions as to its Indian policy, 
if we should see fit to enter upon the free coinage of silver. All 
over Europe, wherever there is an owner of land dependent upon 
its products for support, there is a growing and abiding con- 
viction that, until silver again takes its place as a standard, the 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 645 

price of gold is certain to appreciate, and the price of agricul- 
tural products and of lands to decrease. I fear, however, that 
it will take years of further suffering to work a change in the 
European financial policy. 

I find a wonderful interest shown over there in the pro- 
gress of the silver cause in this country. No important speech 
was made by my colleague, Senator Teller, upon which the 
English bimetallists were not informed. They are preparing 
themselves fully for the struggle, when it does come to them. 

PARTY POLITICS AND SILVER 

These were the preliminary steps looking to the appoint- 
ment of an international commission, but the real action in 
that interest did not take place until about three years 
afterward. In the meantime Senator Wolcott had vigor- 
ously continued his efforts in support of silver legislation 
in Congress. He had been re-elected to the Senate in the 
face of the determined opposition of Waiteism and Populism 
in his own State, and later the Republican National Con- 
vention of 1896 had come, bringing with it a split in the 
Republican party, and resulting in the defection from the 
party of his colleague and a large following of that gentle- 
man throughout the West. 

To Mr. Wolcott the period was a trying one. He had 
said repeatedly that when it came to a choice between his 
party and silver his support would be given to the white 
metal. That time had come, and he remained a Republican. 
Failing to discover any probability of relief from any party, 
he had concluded that he could not promote bimetallism by 
leaving one political organization to join another. True, 
the Populist party was committed to free-silver coinage, but 
Senator Wolcott felt assured that that party never could at- 
tain to national control, and the result shows that in that 
respect his conclusion was correct. Moreover, free silver 
was only one of the tenets of Populism. It stood for almost 
everything else which established society had not seemed to 
want. The Colorado Senator was in sympathy with it only 
on the one point of silver coinage. For these and many 
other reasons he found it impossible to cast his lot with 
this organization. 



646 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Probably as fair an expression as Mr. Wolcott has left 
as to his attitude toward his own and other parties in 
conDection with silver is found in his speech before the 
Republican State Convention of Colorado in 1894. This was 
two years before the test of leaving the party came, and it 
will be observed that his threat of departure was not 
unconditional. 

Whenever I am convinced [he said] that the free coinage 
of silver is not attainable at the hands of the Republican party, 
and is attainable at the hands of some other party, I will join 
that party. And so will every citizen of Colorado. But, my 
friends, that determination will never bring you or me into 
party affiliation with Mrs. Lease and Governor Waite. My 
earliest recollections are associated with the Republican party. 
When I was a lad our house was a station on the underground 
railway. After nightfall, in our New England home, some black 
man would be secretly let in to sleep in the attic, and started 
off at daylight on his road to Canada. The first years of my 
manhood are associated with the attack on the flag and its res- 
toration. All the life I have known is identified with that of the 
Republican party, and draws its inspirations from that party's 
achievements in the protection of American labor, and American 
products, and American manhood; in its eternal vigilance for 
the maintenance of the honor of the flag at home and abroad, 
and in its elevation of the human race. And since that event- 
ful session of Congress a year ago, what growth we have seen 
has come through and in and by the Republican party. My 
friends, with you I love the party and every line in its history, 
and when we leave it it will be to different music than any 
Populistic party has yet piped. 

Not very different was his speech at Colorado Springs, 
September 16, 1896, after the die had been cast and he 
had decided to remain with his party. Then he said: 

" We don't want silver if we must take mob law with it; 
and if in this country any man who wants to labor is not 
protected in the exercise of that right, even if it takes all 
the armies of the United States to secure it to him, then 
this Government is not worth preserving, nor will any 
change of financial policy bring it prosperity." 

To turn elsewhere with any prospect of accomplishing 



LONG FIGHT FOE COINAGE OF SILVEE 647 

results was quite as impossible. The Democracy was 
hopelessly in the minority, as Senator Wolcott realized. 
Moreover, the country had found in Cleveland, the only 
Democratic President of modern times, the most implacable 
and determined foe that silver ever had encountered in the 
Presidency. And Cleveland did not stand alone in his party 
in opposition to silver. A large percentage of the Eastern 
Democracy ardently supported his view. There was, there- 
fore, at least no certainty of favorable silver action in case 
of Democratic success. Had not a Democratic President 
compelled the repeal of the Sherman Law? 

Why, then, in view of these conditions, should Senator 
Wolcott leave the party into which he had been born and 
of which he had been a member during his entire life, for 
another party which to his mind promised no more than 
the Eepublican party? If by taking such a step he could 
have insured the rehabilitation of silver he would in all 
probability have taken it. He had no such assurance. 

In his heart of hearts, Wolcott was ever a party man, and 
he could not and would not break with a great historic party 
over an economic issue merely as such. There was nothing 
pontifical in his nature. True, he was a leader, but not the 
leader of any pilgrimage to Canossa ; not of an exploring ex- 
pedition into uncharted seas; and when in the late 'eighties, 
and still more after the failure of the last Monetary Con- 
ference at Brussels in 1893, there were ominous symptoms 
that the Eepublican party could not subdue organic dis- 
sensions arising from this issue, it was clearly the time to 
take careful soundings. The great party which Wolcott 
loved was in danger; the career of its leaders might be 
compromised; the ship with a rapidly falling barometer 
was off a lee shore. That he counted all the cost — this was 
well known to his friends. He had come, however reluc- 
tantly, to the conviction that silver must needs be fought 
out upon a wider stage. 

From this time he gradually drifted away from the 
counsels of the silver Senators, taking his new inspiration 
more from Senator Hoar of Massachusetts perhaps than 
from any other one man. For his new mood and for wise 
guidance he could have found no better mentor in the entire 



648 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

United States. Mr. Hoar was no reactionary. He was, in- 
deed, one of the most courageous men in public life. He 
had a nation of admirers because he was the very embodi- 
ment of all those moral and yet liberal principles which 
form the rugged traditions of New England. Granted that 
he knew far less about currency than the silver Senators, 
yet, doubtless, argued Mr. Wolcott, he had a wide view of 
history and was quite as likely to see the blazed trail over 
and beyond the mountain. And, above all, he, like Wol- 
cott, was a devoted party man. Hoar, too, was entirely 
sound on the international aspect of silver. It may be well 
to quote here a cable drafted, or at least amended, by Senator 
Hoar, which was sent to a reform gathering at the London 
Mansion House in May, 1895 : 

The Lord Mayor op London, the Mansion House, London : 

We desire to express our cordial sympathy with the move- 
ment to promote the restoration of silver by international agree- 
ment, in aid of which we understand a meeting is to be held 
to-day under your Lordship's presidency. We believe that the 
free coinage of both gold and silver by international agreement 
at a fixed ratio would secure to mankind the blessing of a suf- 
ficient volume of metallic money and, what is hardly less import- 
ant, secure to the world of trade immunity from violent exchange 
fluctuations. 

(Signed) John Sherman, W. B. Allison, D. W. Voorhees, 
George F. Hoar, Nelson W. Aldrich, William P. Frye, C. K. Davis, 
S. M. Cullom, Henry Cabot Lodge, Calvin S. Brice, O. H. Piatt, 
A. P. Gorman, Edward Murphy, David B. Hill. 

It will be observed that this comprehensive message bears 
the signatures of all the Senators from the three great States 
of New York, Massachusetts, and Ohio, and is signed by 
every Senator who had been active in promoting the repeal 
of the Sherman Act. It shows vividly the state of mind 
of the " sound money " Senators of that day. 

There was a further influence which was probably assist- 
ing Mr. Wolcott in his growing conviction that the silver 
issue would be settled on international lines. During his 
visits to England in 1889 and 1890 he had established very 
pleasant relations with Mr. Henry Chaplin, at that time in 






LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 649 

Lord Salisbury's Cabinet, and the acquaintance had been 
renewed on each subsequent visit. In England Mr. Chaplin 
was and is a very interesting figure both in politics and in 
society. He was the intimate friend of King Edward. A 
thorough man of the world and of affairs, he had won with 
Hermit the blue ribbon of the English turf in the most sen- 
sational Derby of that generation. Mr. Chaplin was second 
only to Mr. Balfour in his earnest advocacy of international 
bimetallism. The Cabinet in this matter was much di- 
vided. Lord Salisbury was benevolently neutral, but the 
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Goschen, was strongly 
opposed, for the temperature of the City of London was 
then, as always in treating this question, below zero. 
Mr. Chaplin was greatly attracted to the Colorado Sen- 
ator, as was the Senator to him. The two men had much 
in common, joyous, vigorous, vital sport-loving natures — 
natures which look forward and not back. Through Mr. 
Chaplin the visitor saw no little of Mr. Balfour in these 
early visits. The tide seemed running strongly for the res- 
toration of silver even in England, and especially in France 
and Germany, and the world of finance appeared to be com- 
ing to its senses. Doubtless Mr. Chaplin had strong influ- 
ence in causing his American friend to give consideration 
to the world-wide aspect of the silver question. 

Extremely important as showing the set of the wind was 
the resolution adopted by the British House of Commons, 
February 20, 1895, which was in line with previous pro- 
nouncements by the legislative bodies of France and 
Germany : 

That this House regards with increasing apprehension the 
constant fluctuations and the growing divergence in the relative 
values of gold and silver, and heartily concurs in the recent 
expressions of opinion on the part of the Governments of France 
and Germany as to the serious evils arising therefrom; it there- 
fore urges upon Her Majesty's Government the desirability of 
co-operating with other Powers in an international conference 
for the purpose of considering what measures can be taken to 
remove or mitigate these evils. 

Again on March 17, 1896, the following resolution was 
adopted by the House of Commons: 



650 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

That this House is of opinion that the instability of the rela- 
tive value of gold and silver, since the action of the Latin 
Union in 1873, has proved injurious to the best interests of 
this country, and urges upon this Government the advisability 
of doing all in their power to secure by international agreement 
a stable monetary par of exchange between gold and silver. 

Thus apparently the three principal European nations 
had committed themselves voluntarily and authoritatively 
to silver coinage. Is it surprising that the American advo- 
cates of international agreement felt encouraged? 

Following close upon the action of Parliament, Sir 
Michael Hicks Beach, a monometallism but fair-minded, 
was reported to have declared that if the other nations 
formed a bimetallic league, the British Government would 
reopen the Indian mints and by other means promote an 
increased use of silver in coinage, to help the general move- 
ment. Mr. Balfour asserted that in these circumstances 
Great Britain would do more for bimetallism than any other 
country in the world. 

Fortunately Mr. Wolcott has left us an explanation of 
his conversion to the international theory, which saves the 
necessity for speculation. In a speech made February 12, 
1900, one of the last of his speeches in the Senate, he said : 

When I entered the Senate eleven years ago, and afterward, 
I believed, and asserted my belief, that the United States alone, 
unaided by any other nation, could establish and maintain for 
the whole world the parity between gold and silver if it opened 
its mints to the free coinage of both metals at the old ratio of 
10 to 1; and under the conditions then existing, and which 
seemed certain to follow our action, I still believe it might then 
have been accomplished. What was true a few years ago is 
no longer true. The commercial value of silver was then far 
greater than now; India had but just closed her mints, we 
believed temporarily; Russia had not declared her ratio of 24 
to 1; Japan was still upon the silver standard, and the annual 
product of gold was normal, showing a slight but steady increase 
year after year, and the world's supply of metal money was 
grossly inadequate. To-day we face a vastly different condition 
of affairs, and for one I should shrink from entering upon the 
experiment alone and at the old ratio. Not only the hostility 






LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 651 

of the vast majority of the taxpayers of our own country, but 
the attitude of the civilized governments of the world, the ex- 
istence in India of a thousand million ounces and more of silver, 
uncoined, sold from day to day in the bazaars, the uncertainty 
as to the future of the Orient, — all these vexed and unsettled 
problems might well make us pause. It is not necessary now 
to discuss further that question, but it is my judgment that, 
if Mr. Bryan were to-day President of the United States, and 
if a majority of Congress were of his way of thinking, they 
would never dare seek to impose upon this country the respon- 
sibility of entering alone and unaided upon the duty of main- 
taining a parity at the old ratio. 

For these and many other reasons, the environment in 
which Wolcott now moved greatly influenced his drift away 
from the predominant sentiment of his own State, which 
was almost unanimous for the free coinage of silver by 
the United States without regard to other nations. 

Then came the St. Louis platform of 1896. The die was 
cast ; he would attempt to hold Colorado for the Republican 
party and for international action if only a corporal's guard 
would follow him. 

THE FOREIGN SITUATION 

In its declarations at the St. Louis Convention the party 
placed itself on record as " unreservedly for sound money," 
and for the first time declared itself " opposed to the free 
coinage of silver except by international agreement with 
the leading commercial nations of the world." Then fol- 
lowed a promise to promote such agreement, which in turn 
was succeeded by a declaration for the maintenance of the 
existing gold standard until such agreement could be ob- 
tained. This was an advance over previous platforms in 
favor of gold monometallism of such a pronounced nature as 
to render the situation very trying to the Republicans who 
favored silver. The only relief was in the pledge for the 
promotion of an international agreement. 

The campaign was fought on this issue, and Mr. McKin- 
ley, was triumphantly elected over Mr. Bryan, although 
seven-eighths of Colorado's vote was cast for Bryan. Very 



652 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

little had been said during the campaign about the party's 
declaration for international bimetallism; but Mr. Wolcott 
and his fellow silver men in the party who had remained 
true were quite determined that it should not be lost sight 
of. No sooner, therefore, had Congress convened after the 
election than they set themselves to work to vitalize it and 
make it the basis of an active propaganda. At the first 
caucus of the Republican Senators, Mr. Wolcott called at- 
tention to the declaration, and at his instance the ball was 
set rolling in the interest of an agreement. 

At this conference Senator Hoar related the particulars 
of interviews he had had with prominent bimetallists during 
a recent visit to England and France, and added his plea 
to Mr. Wolcott's in favor of taking steps toward an inter- 
national agreement. After considerable discussion, a caucus 
committee was agreed upon to further the movement, and 
Senator Wolcott was placed at the head of it, with Senators 
Hoar, Chandler, Carter, and Gear as his associates. It was 
due to their labors that the law of March 3, 1897, providing 
for a commission, was enacted. 

Mr. Wolcott did not, however, confine his efforts to Con- 
gress. He lost no time in placing himself in communication 
with the new President, who even then was seeking a way 
to aid silver. The result was his second silver prospecting 
trip to Europe. This trip was made at the instance of the 
President and was therefore semi-official in character. 

The Colorado Senator's determination to adhere to his 
party, notwithstanding the St. Louis platform, rendered it all 
the more important that he should demonstrate to the world 
that he had been consistent in his advocacy of bimetallism, 
and that his party had been in earnest in pledging itself in 
the recent platform to an international arrangement. His 
confidence in the President was so great that he believed that 
he would do all in his power to promote the movement, and 
in his inaugural address, delivered March 4, 1897, after Mr. 
Wolcott had sounded the European Governments, the Presi- 
dent went far toward justifying this confidence. In that 
pronouncement the President declared his adherence to the 
platform pledge as well as to other portions of the financial 
plank of the St. Louis Convention, saying: 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 653 

The question of international bimetallism will have early 
and earnest attention. It will be my constant and earnest at- 
tention to secure it by co-operation with the other great com- 
mercial powers of the world. Until that condition is realized 
when the parity between our gold and silver money springs from 
and is supported by the relative value of the two metals, the 
value of silver already coined and of that which may hereafter 
be coined must be kept constantly at par with the gold by every 
resource at our command. The credit of the Government, the 
integrity of its currency, and the inviolability of its obligations 
must be preserved. This was the commanding verdict of the 
people, and it will not be unheeded. 

Independently of his personal attitude, the election of 
William McKinley marked a death-blow, as we now see, to the 
" free silver " agitation. The basis of that agitation was the 
painful fall of prices. There was, it is true, in the background 
the great problem of the silver exchanges with Asia, a prob- 
lem which may yet emerge as the real and paramount silver 
issue — a great racial danger. But it was the fall of prices 
occasioned by the contraction of the currency which formed 
the stock argument of almost every speaker. Had it been 
imagined for one instant that the tide had just turned 
in 1896 and that the world already had crossed the thresh- 
old of such enormous and unprecedented supplies of new 
gold from the mines as must quickly inflate the Western 
currencies and raise all prices, it is possible that the Demo- 
cratic platform of 1896 would have contained no " free 
silver " plank. In the new President, however, the silver 
men had a good friend. When a member of the House of 
Representatives McKinley had voted for free coinage. In 
1892 in an address to the Republican League of Ohio he had 
said of President Cleveland: 

During all the years at the head of the Government he was 
dishonoring one of the precious metals, one of our own great 
products, discrediting silver and enhancing the price of gold. 
He endeavored even before his inauguration into office to stop 
the coinage of silver dollars, and afterward and to the end of 
his Administration he persistently used his powers to that end. 
He was determined to contract the circulating medium and de- 



654 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

monetize one of the coins of commerce, limit the volume of money 
among the people, make money scarce and therefore dear. He 
would have increased the value of money and diminished the 
value of everything else— money the master, everything else the 
servant. He was not thinking of the poor people then. He had 
left their side. He was not standing forth in their defence. 
Cheap labor, and dear money; the sponsor and promoter of 
those professing to stand guard over the poor and lowly. Was 
there ever more glaring inconsistency or reckless assumption? 
... He believed that poverty is a blessing to be promoted and 
encouraged, and that a shrinkage in the value of everything 
but money is a national benediction. 

Holding such views it was inevitable that the President 
should consider how best to employ the prerogative of his 
great office in order to forward an international settlement 
and this without a day's delay. He looked round for the 
emissary most agreeable to Europe. Who, by reason of his 
services to and sacrifices for his party, because of his know- 
ledge of the silver question, and particularly because of his 
intimate acquaintance with the chief pieces on the European 
chess-board, could do better service at this juncture than 
Wolcott? The new President at once despatched him to 
Europe, unofficially, to inform himself as to the lay of the 
land. Lord Salisbury was again in power. Without com- 
mitting the President or his Administration Wolcott could 
discover from Mr. Balfour and Mr. Chaplin the prospect 
for a successful formal commission later. A commission 
could only harm the party and the President if the posi- 
tion in Europe was hopeless; but if, on the other hand, suf- 
ficient encouragement was vouchsafed Wolcott understood 
that he was to return soon to Europe with a full-fledged 
official body. 

Mr. Wolcott inevitably regarded the mission as the 
grand climacteric of his life. If it was possible to achieve 
a lasting settlement, the Republican party would splendidly 
justify its attitude in the recent furious campaign, and he 
himself in view of the line he had taken in Colorado 
would emerge an historic figure. A very great opportunity 
had come to him; what had the Fates in store? And his 
friends remarked in him during the year that followed a 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 655 

greatly increased sense of responsibility. He sailed for 
Europe during the winter of 1896-97, spending the months 
of January and February in England and France with the 
exception of a few days in Germany. 

Since his previous visit, the unfriendly Gladstone Ad- 
ministration had terminated and the Conservatives had come 
into power, placing many of the foremost bimetallists of 
Great Britain in positions of responsibility. M. Meline, the 
French silver champion was Premier in France. Senator 
Wolcott was received with open arms in both the French 
Republic and the British Empire. He was a social lion 
among the leaders of the bimetallic thought in both London 
and Paris, and he was told that an American commission 
would receive a cordial welcome, in case it should be ap- 
pointed. France was especially reassuring in her attitude. 
Mr. Wolcott was informed that, if in the then approaching 
tariff legislation in this country French interests could be 
properly considered, such a course would have a most bene- 
ficial influence upon the French people. Mr. Wolcott, who 
had become a member of the Senate Committee on Finance, 
promised to give his attention to these representations, and 
it should here be said that he afterward did so, influencing 
many important changes in the Dingley Tariff Law in the 
interest of French exporters to this country without in any 
wise impairing home industries. 

It is important to recognize that in England in 1897 
the views of the bimetallists had undergone an important 
modification. The Indian mints had been closed to free 
coinage in 1893 with a resultant collapse in the price of 
silver for which history has no precedent. Thus it was 
appreciated for the first time how very much Great Britain 
had done for silver during the previous century by keeping 
the mints of her vast dependency open to the free coinage 
of that metal. So that on Wolcott's arrival the best friends 
of the white metal advised him not to advance extreme pro- 
posals as to the inclusion of Great Britain, but to rest satis- 
fied with the restoration by her of silver monometallism in 
India with open mints there, and the promise of a continued 
free gold market in London. 

The all-important point was to persuade France, her 



656 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

traditions all friendly to free coinage, to go liand-in-hand 
with her sister Republic in restoring that monetary system 
which before 1873 had served the world so well. The view 
of those consulted as to Germany's attitude was rather to 
let Germany make the advances if and when she wished. 
The two great Republics were to take the lead. England's 
partnership, though very important, was to be looked upon 
as subordinate. It was thought that all that was scientific 
in French and American finance and all the idealism of the 
two great nations would respond to a settlement in which the 
" effete monarchies " were to knock later for admission on 
the door of the allied Republics. 

This Plan of Campaign was not devoid of audacity. 
Would France rise to such a fly? Would it satisfy the 
McKinley Administration? If so, the inclusion of India, 
though all important, might, it was felt on all hands, be 
taken for granted. 

After leaving London Wolcott next spent a fortnight in 
Paris and found to his delight and surprise that M. Mag- 
nin, the Governor of the Bank of France, was most sym- 
pathetically with him in the conviction that the monetary 
area of the two Republics, with India, was quite wide enough 
within which to establish free coinage and fixed exchanges, 
and that the arrangement proposed would give Paris and 
New York a predominant position in the world's bill market; 
that not only would a great and profitable exchange busi- 
ness be obtained by the two partners, and this largely at the 
expense of London, but that projects such as Asiatic rail- 
roads and other constructions requiring capital would be 
likely to come where, because of open mints, the world's 
silver markets had been localized. 

Immensely satisfied with the beat of the European pulse, 
Wolcott returned to America to carry his report to the 
White House. The business depression in the United States 
at this time showed no sign of lifting. Not the President 
only but the Republican chiefs, Hanna, Allison, and Aid- 
rich, were quite with the President in thinking that a ra- 
tional settlement to which France was a party and for the 
sake of which England would coin silver freely for three 
hundred millions of her people, would not merely be at- 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 657 

tended by a business revival but would be regarded as the 
crowning triumph of the Republican party; that where the 
Democrats would, if victorious, have taken a devious and 
dangerous road leading into a possible morass, the " Grand 
Old Party " had procured by a quick diplomatic effort a 
practically invincible Triple Alliance. 

THE BIMETALLIC COMMISSION 

When, in March, 1897, Mr. Wolcott returned from his 
informal mission, he found that the way for the appointment 
of a commission had been prepared by the passage of the 
Caucus Bill, the essential portion of which read : 

Whenever after March fourth, eighteen hundred and ninety- 
seven, the President of the United States shall determine that the 
United States should be represented at any international con- 
ference called by the United States or any other country with 
a view to securing by international agreement a fixity of relative 
value between gold and silver as money by means of a common 
ratio between these metals, with free mintage at such ratio, he 
is hereby authorized to appoint five or more commissioners to 
such international conference; and for compensation of said 
commissioners, and for all reasonable expenses connected there- 
with, to be approved by the Secretary of State, including the 
proportion to be paid by the United States of the joint expenses 
of any such conference, the sum of one hundred thousand dol- 
lars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby 
appropriated. 

That the President of the United States is hereby authorized, 
in the name of the Government of the United States, to call, in 
his discretion, such international conference, to assemble at such 
point as may be agreed upon. And he is further authorized, if 
in his judgment the purpose specified in the first section hereof 
can thus be better attained, to appoint one or more special 
commissioners or envoys to such of the nations of Europe as 
he may designate, to seek by diplomatic negotiations an inter- 
national agreement for the purpose specified in the first section 
hereof. And in case of such appointment so much of the appro- 
priation herein made as shall be necessary shall be available for 
the proper expenses and compensation of such commissioners 
or envovs. 



658 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

The bill was a Republican measure, passed in accord- 
ance with the pledge of the St. Louis Convention, but it did 
not antagonize the views of President Cleveland, and he 
attached his signature to it March 3, 1897, only a few hours 
before retiring from office. 

Very soon after the Colorado Senator's arrival from 
Europe the Commission was appointed. For the purpose 
of showing his good faith President McKinley decided that 
all the members should be silver men of pronounced views, 
and to that end he selected Mr. Wolcott as Chairman, giv- 
ing him as colleagues Hon. Adlai E. Stevenson of Illinois, a 
Democrat who had been Vice-President of the United States 
when Mr. Cleveland was President and who had been the 
recent running mate of Mr. Bryan for the same office he 
previously had held, and General Charles J. Paine of 
Massachusetts, a private citizen, but a bimetallist and a 
Republican. 

In view of the fact that the Commission came within an 
ace of complete success and that the failure came from a 
quarter not for an instant anticipated, it is perhaps un- 
gracious to criticise its make-up. But at the time it was 
felt that in a matter of such transcendent importance Mr. 
Wolcott should have strengthened his Commission by the 
inclusion of Senator Allison or Senator Aldrich, because his 
companions, though both men of zeal, position, and intel- 
ligence, could not bring to their chief all the assistance he 
needed in meeting the infinitely complex problems which 
were daily in evidence and often from the most unexpected 
quarters. 

Much attention was given by the Commission and by the 
Administration to the method of proceeding. In view of 
the fact that since the general demonetization of silver in 
1873 there had been three futile attempts to establish 
world-bimetallism through international conferences, it was 
thought best not to suggest another such conference without 
definite knowledge of conditions. Hence, it was decided that 
the great commercial powers should be officially and still 
further sounded on the subject before suggesting a con- 
ference. If there was sufficient encouragement, the con- 
ference was to come later. The first part of the programme 






LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 659 

was carried into execution; the second was not. No con- 
ference was held. The Commission appointed, the plan was 
to first proceed to France, " the point of least resistance," 
and, in case the French authorities were found to be 
friendly, as Mr. Wolcott was confident they would be, to 
go thence to England, and if there should be encouragement 
there, to then lay the subject before the German and other 
European Governments in succession, when, if a sufficient 
number were willing, the conference was to be called. It 
was quite generally believed, however, that the United States 
and France could maintain the double standard if the con- 
sent of Great Britain to the re-opening of the Indian mints 
could be obtained. In the event of such union, Germany's 
co-operation would have been welcomed though not abso- 
lutely necessary. 

France yielded without remonstrance, and it was quite 
well understood that if England would make the concessions 
desired of her there would be no objection from Berlin. 
England was asked to reopen the Indian mints, if not her 
own. She unexpectedly referred the question to the Indian 
Government. The Indian Government just as unexpectedly 
declined the proposition. This refusal meant the total fail- 
ure of the mission, and so it proved. The preliminary in- 
quiry did not go further. The authority for an international 
conference was not withdrawn, but after the return of the 
American emissaries because of the attitude of the Indian 
authorities, the subject never was revived seriously. 

From the time of the appointment of the Commission, 
President McKinley manifested the deepest interest in its 
movements and he insisted upon being fully informed con- 
cerning its negotiations, as he constantly was by its chair- 
man, both by cable and by letter. He undertook to give 
the envoys all the assistance in his power, and this he did 
by fostering favorable sentiment in the United States and 
by instructing the American representatives in Great Britain, 
France, Germany, and Russia to further their purposes by 
every legitimate means. By despatches sent at his instance 
from the State Department while the Commission was en 
route to France, Ambassadors Hay, Porter, and Uhl, and 
Minister Breckenridge were instructed to take immediate 



660 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

steps to ascertain the views of England, France, Germany, 
and Russia respectively on the advisability and practicability 
of holding a new monetary conference. The instructions also 
set forth the importance to the commissioners of having at 
an early date full and trustworthy information as to the 
attitude of the four countries toward international bi- 
metallism. To this end the American representatives were 
instructed to visit the proper officials in London, Paris, Ber- 
lin, and St. Petersburg and endeavor to ascertain from them 
the views of their respective Governments. These instruc- 
tions were faithfully carried out. Ambassador Hay espe- 
cially was untiring in his efforts to promote the objects of the 
mission in London, and Mr. Wolcott never flagged in sound- 
ing praises of that official's tact and zeal in behalf of the 
mission. 

NEGOTIATIONS IN FRANCE 

The Commission sailed from New York on the 8th of 
May, 1897, and arrived at Paris on the 16th of the same 
month. Headquarters were established immediately at 
the Hotel Vendome, and steps were taken for the begin- 
ning of the work of the mission. The members first put 
themselves in communication with the officers of the Bime- 
tallic League of the French Republic, and, in the absence 
of Ambassador Porter, utilized Senator Edward Fougeirol, 
the president of that league, and M. Edmond Thery, the 
head secretary, as their intermediaries in communicating 
with the officials of the French Government. Through them 
they brought about interviews with President Faure, Premier 
Meline, and M. Hanotaux, Minister of Foreign Affairs. M. 
Meline was cordial and encouraging, as he had been during 
Mr. Wolcott's former visit, and he did not fail to lend all 
the support of his great office to the furtherance of the 
Commission's labors. Messrs. Faure and Hanotaux were 
more conservative and more inclined to raise obstacles, but 
apparently these were due rather to difference in tempera- 
ment than to divergence in conviction. At any rate, the 
Meline view triumphed, and within less than a month's time 
the French Government had decided to co-operate with the 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 661 

American envoys in presenting the necessity for silver coin- 
age to the British Government and to other European 
powers. 

The Commission was enthusiastically received by the 
French National Bimetallic League, by which its members 
were tendered a banquet at Paris on May 29, 1897. In 
his speech of welcome, President Fougeirol greeted the 
envoys cordially, saying : 

We have the great honor to have in our midst Mr. Wolcott, the 
American Senator, Hon. Adlai E. Stevenson, late Vice-President 
of the United States of America, and General Paine. 

These gentlemen, who arrived in France only a few days ago, 
and who have been invested by the United States Government 
with a special mission to the Governments of Europe in order 
to establish with them the basis of an international understand- 
ing for the re-establishment of bimetallism, have also been kind 
enough to accept our invitation. 

I thank them in the name of the French League, which sees 
in their acceptance a valuable testimony of their esteem for 
its efforts and work. 

Are not their presence and the official mission with which 
they are charged by the Government of Mr. McKinley, the best 
proof, gentlemen, that in the last Presidential struggle in the 
United States it was not the gold standard, as our adversaries 
have been pleased to say, but international bimetallism itself, 
such as we have always defended, which has triumphed in the 
person of Mr. McKinley? 

We salute these official representatives, and we see in their 
presence here the pledge of the near solution of the monetary 
question. 

Thus you can see, gentlemen, the way covered and the progress 
made in so short a time. 

As to France, the presence of M. M61ine in power is a sure 
guarantee to us that his Government will respond to the appeal 
that is made to it and that there will be a loyal and sincere 
union between the two great sister Republics for the re-estab- 
lishment of monetary peace in the world. 

We are firmly convinced that in the presence of this union 
the gold-standard Governments of Europe, and especially those 
of England and Germany, will understand that the hour has 
come for them to take their part resolutely in a work in the 
success of which they are perhaps more interested than ourselves. 



662 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

M. Meline was also a guest at the banquet. He was 
most sanguine of success, and after declaring the cause 
practically won, spoke of the American commissioners, 
of whom he said: 

To-day the situation is changing its aspect. The government 
of a great power is taking the initiative, and is taking a decisive 
step in approaching the principal powers of Europe. It is send- 
ing as ambassadors statesmen who are capable of assuring the 
success of the cause they espouse, for they combine with their 
incontestable ability and with the high authority which they 
enjoy in their own country a very just idea of the difficulties 
which they will encounter in their negotiations. They have 
made every effort to overcome them before their arrival here, 
and we must thank Mr. Wolcott, in particular, for the con- 
ciliatory disposition of which he has recently given proof. 

I am convinced that this disposition will be strengthened 
still further by his stay among us. For he will find that our 
co-operation will not be wanting on behalf of the great cause 
which we are ready to defend with him. 

It may be worth mentioning that for a time at the begin- 
ning of their negotiations in Paris the commissioners fouud 
themselves considerably puzzled over the attitude of M. Hano- 
tanx, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. That official at first 
had raised a question about the American tariff as fixed by 
the then recently enacted law, but when shown by Mr. 
Wolcott that, in accordance with promises made by him in 
his previous visit, the features in the bill which had been 
considered objectionable to the French exporters had been 
modified, apparently he still was obdurate. Interviews with 
him were unsatisfactory and his general bearing was such 
as to create a feeling of uneasiness. But when the fore- 
bodings aroused by these conditions were imparted to M. 
Meline, he laughed them away as unfounded, and apparently 
they were, for not only did the French Government give its 
adherence to the plan of the American envoys, but the French 
Ambassador to Great Britain, Baron de Courcel, was in- 
structed to co-operate with the American Commission in its 
effort to obtain the assistance of the Island Empire in 
bringing about a return to bimetallism. 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 663 

An agreement with the French authorities to press for 
a general restoration of silver coinage with the French 
ratio of 15% to 1 in favor of gold was reached ; and with the 
assurance of the support of the Parisian Government the 
American envoys immediately betook themselves to London, 
where they lost no time in communicating with Ambassador 
Hay, who in turn brought them into official touch with Lord 
Salisbury and his Cabinet. 

IN LONDON 

Noting the arrival of the Commission in London and 
commenting upon the attitude of Mr. Wolcott a press 
correspondent remarked : 

He is at once as cheerful and reticent as ever. His faith 
in the ultimate success of the movement for international 
bimetallism is unclouded with doubt or suspicion. The reasons 
for that faith he is too wary to disclose, and he is wise. His 
success in dealing with the French Government and the British 
Ministry has been due in large measure to his talent for silence. 
He confers confidentially with financiers and Ministers, and has 
the good sense to keep his work out of the newspapers. He 
cannot be drawn into an interview or premature statement of 
his purposes, which would serve only to excite controversy and 
expose him to attack. 

Another journalist commented: 

Whatever may be the final outcome of the bimetallist mis- 
sion, it cannot be doubted that the McKinley Administration 
has succeeded in presenting this question to the European Gov- 
ernments in the best possible way and in employing the right 
men for the work. Senator Wolcott is not only a keen controver- 
sialist, whose heart is in his work, but he is also a thorough 
man of the world, with a talent for conciliating opponents and 
convincing them, not infrequently against their will. His suc- 
cessful work during his previous silver tour was not adequately 
appreciated in America. It was remarkable for diplomatic 
finesse and intellectual force. 

Even with influential members of the British Government 



664 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

friendly conditions in Great Britain were not so favorable 
as in France. London as the heart of the commerce and 
finance of the world had for many years been recognized 
as the centre of gold monometallism. A large majority of 
the banks and business houses and of the press stood for the 
single standard. It was scarcely hoped that any influence 
could be brought to bear to bring about the opening of the 
English mints to silver, but the conditions in India were 
such that it was thought probable that the Indian mints 
might be reopened. Only a few years previous the Gov- 
ernment of that dependency had evinced a willingness to 
such a course provided there should be sufficient co-opera- 
tion on the part of the great commercial nations, and no 
silver advocate dreamed of the possibility of a change of 
front in that quarter. 

Upon their arrival in London the commissioners im- 
mediately began preparation for their negotiations with the 
British Government. They were formally presented to Lord 
Salisbury, the Prime Minister, on July 7th, and we are told 
by the press of the day that they were " cordially received." 
For the first time the public learned that the two Republics 
were not only united in sentiment on the subject but ac- 
tually co-operating. Noting the interview with the Premier, 
the London correspondent of the New York Tribune wrote : 

An important point which is not yet understood outside of 
the Foreign Office, is that these envoys will have two Embassies 
behind them in place of one. They produced so good an impres- 
sion upon the French Government during their stay in Paris 
that the French Embassy in London has been instructed to 
co-operate with the American Embassy in such conferences and 
negotiations as may be conducted with the British Government. 
It has been known that M. Meline and the French Ministry were 
outspoken in expressing their sympathy for the objects of their 
mission and in promising that their concurrence would not be 
wanting for the triumph of the cause of rational bimetallism on 
international lines, but it has not been suspected that the French 
Government would be prepared to lend diplomatic as well as 
moral support to this movement of the McKinley Administra- 
tion in favor of bimetallism. It is, nevertheless, true that these 
envoys in their negotiations with the Foreign Office and the 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 665 

Chancellor of the Exchequer will have the hearty co-operation 
of the French and American Embassies. 

Messrs. Wolcott, Stevenson, and Paine are not here on an 
errand of political adventure, devised for the sake of duping 
Western and Southern voters and playing a game of impossible 
compromise for moral effect in America. They are successful 
negotiators, who have carried their main point in Paris, and 
have enlisted not only the good-will, but also the active co- 
operation and diplomatic support of the French Government 
in their London campaign. Ambassador Hay has been ardu- 
ously at work on the same lines ever since his arrival in Lon- 
don, and his prestige and influence are now of the greatest 
possible service in facilitating the work of the envoys, who are 
likely to remain here several weeks before returning to Paris. 

What was originally a sincere effort on the part of the 
McKinley Administration to carry out the pledges of the Re- 
publican platform respecting bimetallism grounded upon inter- 
national agreement has become already a joint movement on 
the part of the United States and France to bring about a settle- 
ment of the monetary question through the action of a new 
conference. France is the natural ally of the United States in 
this movement, because she has greater interest than any other 
European State in bimetallism. The Bank of France contains 
in its vaults over $255,000,000 in silver which has been with- 
drawn from circulation. Both Governments have a common 
interest in obtaining the adjustment of this monetary question 
which has caused a disturbance throughout the commercial world, 
and they are naturally supporting each other in the negotiations 
now opening in London. 

Senator Wolcott and his colleagues will say nothing for pub- 
lication on this subject, and the American Ambassador is equally 
reticent, but the main fact that the two Governments are acting 
together through their representatives here is not to be ques- 
tioned. It proves that the McKinley Administration is not 
leaving any stone unturned to bring about a satisfactory solu- 
tion of the silver question by international action, and that 
it is having greater success than has been generally supposed 
on either side of the Atlantic. 

The first formal presentation of the proposals of the 
envoys in England took place at the Foreign Office, July 
12th, when, as noted by the account of the interview pub- 
lished by the British Government, there w r ere present : 



666 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

The Marquess of Salisbury, Her Majesty's Prime Minister 
and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. 

The Right Honorable Lord George Hamilton, Secretary of 
State for India. 

The Right Honorable Arthur James Balfour, First Lord 
of the Treasury. 

The Right Honorable Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Chancellor 
of the Exchequer. 

His Excellency the Honorable John Hay, Ambassador Ex- 
traordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States. 

The Honorable Edward O. Wolcott, ) Envoys of the United 

General Charles J. Paine, > States on Special 

The Honorable Adlai E. Stevenson, ) Mission. 

The joint proposals of the United States and France as 
then made were as follows : 

1. The opening of the Indian mints, and the repeal of 
the order making the sovereign legal tender in India. 

2. The placing of one-fifth of the bullion in the issue 
Department of the Bank of England in silver. 

3. (a.)— The raising of the legal tender limit of silver 
to, say, 10 1. 

(b.) The issue of 20s. notes based on silver which shall 
be legal tender. 

(c.) The retirement, gradual and otherwise, of the 10s. 
gold pieces, and substitution of paper based on silver. 

4. An agreement to coin annually I. 1 of silver. 
[Present silver coinage average for five years about 

1,000,000/., less annual withdrawal of worn and defaced 
coin for recoinage about 350,000/.] 

5. The opening of English mints to the coinage of rupees 
and of a British dollar, which shall be full tender in Straits 
Settlements and other silver-standard Colonies, and tender 
in United Kingdom to the limit of silver legal tender. 

Alternative for Proposal 4. Agreement to purchase each 
year I. 1 in silver at coinage value. 

1 These blanks were not formally filled, but the American and French 
envoys were united in the opinion that England should purchase an- 
nually 10,000,000/. of silver in case the English Government refused to 
concede the opening of the English mints to free silver coinage. 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 667 

6. Action by the Colonies and coinage of silver in Egypt. 

7. Something having the general scope of the Huskisson 
plan. 

The only official account of this interview was prepared 
by Senator Wolcott at the request of Lord Salisbury. Later 
it was submitted to the two Houses of Parliament by Her 
Majesty, Queen Victoria, and thus became public. It is of 
sufficient importance to be given entire, and is as follows : 

Lord Salisbury invited a statement from the Representatives 
of the United States as to the nature of their mission, where- 
upon Mr. Wolcott, on behalf of the Special Envoys, recited the 
essential provisions of the law under which he and his colleagues 
had been appointed, and explained the objects of their mission. 
He said also, in substance, that the Special Envoys had de- 
termined that it was important to ascertain, as definitely as 
possible, in advance of an International Bimetallic Conference, 
if one should be called, the views of the Governments which 
might participate therein, and the extent to which they would 
contribute to bring about a favorable result of such Conference. 

Mr. Wolcott explained that the Special Envoys had de- 
termined, in the first instance, to ascertain the views of the 
French, English, and German Governments on the question of 
reaching an international agreement respecting bimetallism. 
This determination was based upon the Resolutions heretofore 
passer! by the English House of Commons on the 17th March, 
1800, by the Prussian Landtag and Herrenhaus on the 16th and 
21st May, 1896, and upon the Resolution proposed in the French 
Chamber of Deputies by M. Meline, on the 17th March, 1897, 
and signed by 347 of his colleagues, all of which Resolutions 
Mr. Wolcott read. 

Mr. Wolcott said that the Special Envoys had proceeded first 
to France, and that they had reached a complete and satisfac- 
tory preliminary understanding with the Government of that 
country ; that in the negotiations to be carried on in England, 
the Special Envoys believed they would have the full co-operation 
of the Ambassador of the French Republic in London, his Ex- 
cellency Baron de Courcel; that the French Ambassador was, 
for the moment, absent from England, and that the Special 
Envoys of the United States would have asked a postponement 
of the meeting, had it not been for the fact that the French 



668 EDWAKD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Ambassador had requested them to proceed with the meeting 
in his absence. 

Mr. Wolcott then presented some reasons which, in the opin- 
ion of the Special Envoys, rendered it desirable that some inter- 
national agreement for the restoration of bimetallism should 
be reached, and explained why, in their opinion, the success of 
this effort depended upon the attitude which England would 
take regarding the question. He then stated that the Special 
Envoys requested that England should agree to open English 
mints as its contribution to an attempt to restore bimetallism 
by international agreement, and dwelt upon the importance of 
the fact that France and the United States were together en- 
gaged in an attempt to bring about such an agreement, and 
were co-operating to that end. 

Lord Salisbury desired to know if the French Government 
would co-operate upon the basis of opening their mints to the 
free and unlimited coinage of silver. Mr. Wolcott answered in 
the affirmative. Lord Salisbury then asked at what ratio, and 
was informed by Mr. Wolcott that the French Government pre- 
ferred the ratio of 15y 2 to 1, and that the United States was 
inclined to yield this point and accept this as a proper ratio. 
Considerable discussion on the question of the ratio and the 
method by which it should be settled then took place, the Special 
Envoys taking the ground that the countries which opened their 
mints should among themselves determine the ratio. The Chan- 
cellor of the Exchequer suggested that if Indian mints were 
to be opened, England might be held to be interested in the 
ratio, but the Special Envoys did not accede to this view, and 
called attention to the fact that by opening Indian mints the 
English Government did not thereby adopt bimetallism in any 
form. 

It was then suggested that further proceedings should be 
deferred until the French Ambassador also might be present. 

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in further conversation, 
said that if the suggestion of opening the English mints was 
to be made, he thought an answer in the negative would undoubt- 
edly be given. The First Lord of the Treasury asked whether, 
assuming this request for opening English mints to be refused, 
it was desired that the subject be discussed upon the basis of 
something different and less than the opening of English mints. 

Upon a mutual understanding that in the absence of the 
French Ambassador anything said should be considered as said 
informally, a discussion then took place as to the concessions 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 669 

that England might make toward an international solution of 
the questions, if it should refuse to open English mints. 

Mr. Wolcott, for the Special Envoys, presented the list of 
contributions which, among others, England might make towards 
bimetallism if an international agreement could be effected, and 
some general conversation followed in regard to the suggestions. 
The interview terminated, to be resumed on the 15th July, 1897, 
when it was understood that the French Ambassador would 
also be present. 

When on the 15th the conference was resumed, the 
French Ambassador, His Excellency Baron de Courcel was 
present, as was also M. L. Geoffray, Minister Plenipoten- 
tiary from the French Republic. On this occasion Baron 
de Courcel was the principal speaker. He discussed at some 
length the contributions which England could make toward 
the proper recognition of silver in the absence of the free 
coinage of that metal by the English Government. The 
official account continues : 

Lord Salisbury asked whether the French Government would 
decline to open its mints unless England would also open her 
mints. The French Ambassador replied that he preferred to 
discuss the subject upon the basis that France would go to open 
mints if England would consent to open her mints, but that he 
would not exclude from his view the question of contributions 
by England toward maintaining the value of silver, short of 
open mints. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in response to 
this suggestion, stated definitely that the English Government 
would not agree to open English mints to the unlimited coinage 
of silver, and that, whatever views he and his colleagues might 
separately hold on the question of bimetallism, he thought he 
could say they were united upon this point. 

The French Ambassador, upon being asked what contribu- 
tions he suggested, replied that among other contributions he 
thought England should open her Indian mints, and should also 
agree to purchase annually, say, 10,000,000Z. of silver for a series 
of years. 

The suggestions made by the Special Envoys at the inter- 
view on the 12th of July were again read, and the Special Envoys 
accepted also as important and desirable the proposal that the 
English Government should purchase annually, say, 10,000,000?. 



670 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

of silver, with proper safeguards and provisions as to the place 
and manner of its use. 

REFERENCE TO INDIA 

There is no available record of the subsequent proceed- 
ings of the British Cabinet, but it is known that a deci- 
sion to refer to the Indian Government the question of the 
reopening of the Indian mints was arrived at, and this 
reference was made in a communication from Lord George 
Hamilton, Secretary of State for India, bearing date of 
August 2d. In his despatch Lord Hamilton enclosed a com- 
munication from the Foreign Office containing the American- 
French proposals, and after referring to it said : 

It will be seen that among the proposals is one for reopening 
the Indian mints to the free coinage of silver, and the repeal 
of the order making the sovereign legal tender in India. My 
Lords regard this as the most important of the proposals which 
they are invited to consider. The question which it raises in- 
volves serious issues in India; and, before expressing any opin- 
ion on it themselves, they will be glad to learn the views of 
the Secretary of State and of the Government of India. 

Foreseeing no antagonism from India, the American com- 
missioners regarded the reference as a mere formality. It 
was expected that when received the reply would materially 
aid the Salisbury Cabinet in reaching a conclusion favorable 
to the proposals and not that it would block the negotiations, 
as it did. 

While awaiting the response of the Indian Government 
the envoys were not idle. They were engaged in every way 
that might possibly assist in bringing about the favorable 
termination of their mission. Possibly their most import- 
ant accomplishment was the obtaining of the consent of 
the governor of the Bank of England to keep one-fifth of 
the reserve of that great and conservative financial institu- 
tion in silver. This achievement was of such importance 
as to attract the attention of the world of finance, and, 
important though it was, it may well be doubted whether it 
did not result in more injury than benefit. Not until the 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 671 

announcement of the fact was made did the money centres 
have knowledge of the progress the Americans were making. 
This publication opened their eyes, and they lost no time 
in putting into operation all the vast and potent influences 
at their command, in opposition, not only to the proposition 
regarding the bank reserve, but in antagonism to all the 
proposals of the envoys. Presumably if there had been a 
further compliance with the wishes of the Wolcott Com- 
mission, this opposition would have been manifested in the 
end, but if it could have been postponed for a time it might 
have been less harmful. 

The willingness of this great central bank to do so much to 
aid the purpose of the Commission was announced in an official 
letter. The press on which the communication was printed 
was not dry when the enemies of silver coinage throughout 
the Empire were shouting their disapproval from the house- 
tops. The papers, hitherto silent, were called into active 
service. The Salisbury Government was soundly denounced. 
Especially severe was this denunciation in London, where 
columns were devoted daily to excoriation of the commis- 
sioners and to condemnation of the friendly attitude of the 
Government toward the mission. Discussing the question 
at this juncture, the Times spoke of the " characteristic 
crudeness and boldness of American diplomacy," which it 
claimed was shown " in sending a bimetallic commission to 
ask for the reopening of the Indian mints while at the same 
time dealing the worst possible blow at British commerce by 
passing the Dingley Tariff." 

While the delay due to this reference to the Indian 
authorities was unfavorably commented upon by Mr. Wol- 
cott's detractors in America, it was recognized by thinking 
people as necessary if the Indian Government was to be 
permitted to voice its wish in the matter, and the real friends 
of the movement saw in it no real menace. That, however, 
Mr. Wolcott was not entirely at ease, we have his own testi- 
mony. In a letter from France to a sister, dated September 
19th, he speaks of the engrossing interest of his work, and 
adds : " These are anxious days." But some silver advo- 
cates who had been skeptical were converted to a more favor- 
able view. Among those of this class was Mr. More ton 



672 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Frewen, the most tenacious as well as the most consistent 
of English bimetallists. Mr. Frewen wrote a letter to Judge 
C. C. Goodwin, of Salt Lake City, soon after the announce- 
ment of the postponement. The letter throws so much light 
upon the situation and shows so clearly that Mr. Wolcott's 
hopes for a favorable outcome of his negotiations were not 
without substantial foundation, that it is here reproduced 
almost entire. Writing from London under date of August 
7th, Mr. Frewen said: 

The situation here is extremely complex. The personal fac- 
tor—the attitude of half a dozen men, here, in Berlin, in India 
— upon this seems to be turning at this moment, the monetary 
history of the twentieth century. Your men, it is only fair to 
admit, have done extremely well here. I was one of those who 
thought that little good could come of such a mission at such 
a time. I feared that it might sidetrack the energies of silver 
men on your side, while adding nothing to the movement of 
public opinion here. But this is not the case, and I am quite 
surprised at the serious way in which the right people here 
are now discussing the problem. 

This quite unexpected movement toward free coinage by 
France has come as a bolt from the blue. French finance has 
always appeared to us wholly admirable. That thrifty, con- 
servative France should adopt the attitude, that the two great 
Republics could safely "go it alone," if our Indian mints re- 
opened, and if Berlin would agree to take a little silver an- 
nually, and sell none — it is hardly possible to overrate the moral 
effect of such a development as this. It is not America then 
that is to-day dragging forward an unwilling France; it is 
rather France that is about to become the target of your gold 
press! When Wolcott returned from France last February and 
declared that M61ine, the French Prime Minister, was in a likely 
mood, he said very little more, and the thing seemed to us wholly 
improbable. But here is Baron Courcel, the French Ambassador, 
collaborating with your men at every step, and M61ine declared 
to a friend the other day : " If we [the Government] are put 
out because of our support of silver, we shall not be out long." 
You can then imagine the surprise of our people at the attitude 
of the French Ministry. Bryan, we were told, was a low fellow; 
he was a " repudiator " — a " fifty-cent-dollar " man ; but here is 
the French Government working quietly for a " forty-five-cent " 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 673 

dollar, for a ratio of 1 to 15%, and our press, in dumb surprise, 
has not jet found any adjectives. 

It is strange that the member of this Cabinet from whom 
the least was hoped, Sir Michael Hicks Beach, the Chancellor of 
the Exchequer, is apparently the most anxious of all to help 
things forward to a speedy settlement ; while, on the other hand, 
that member whose speeches in the past have done the most to 
arouse public opinion here to the great dangers impending, is 
to-day making all the trouble within the Cabinet. I refer to 
Mr. Goschen, who was the Chancellor of the Exchequer in Lord 
Salisbury's former Government. 

Bimetallism at 1 to 15y 2 ! That is rupee exchanges at ten 
to the sovereign ; the tael and the yen and all the exchanges with 
eight hundred millions of Asiatics deprived of the present gold 
premium of 100 per cent. This seems to be too good to be 
true. Commercially it means a new heaven and a new earth; 
a far better world to-morrow for all the white races. It is 
better not to anticipate such blessing as near at hand; but I 
do feel, after a period of despondency, that perhaps the very 
last chapters of this strange history of financial anarchy, which 
dates back to 1873, are even now being written. 

INDIA'S REJECTION 

The announcement of the adverse decision of the Indian 
Government and of Great Britain's consequent rejection of 
the proposals was delayed almost three months after they 
were submitted. It came through official communications 
from Lord Salisbury to Ambassador Hay and Baron de 
Courcel. 

These letters were dated October 19th. They were iden- 
tical in language and read: 

Her Majesty's Government have given their most careful con- 
sideration to the proposals respecting Currency which were sub- 
mitted by the representatives of the United States and France 
at the Conferences held at the Foreign Office on the 12th and 
15th of July last. Of these proposals it is evident that the first, 
which relates to the reopening of the Indian mints for the free 
coinage of silver, is by far the most important, and consequently 
a despatch was addressed on the 5th of August to the Govern- 



674 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

inent of India by the Secretary of State in Council asking for 
an expression of their opinion on the subject. 

I have the honor now to enclose a copy of a letter from the 
India Office to the Treasury, forwarding the reply of the Gov- 
ernment of India to this country. It will be observed that their 
" unanimous and decided opinion is that it would be most un- 
wise to reopen the mints as part of the proposed arrangements," 
and that this conclusion is endorsed by the Secretary of State 
in Council. Her Majesty's Government have carefully consid- 
ered the reasons by which this conclusion is supported. Among 
other arguments, the Government of India point out that they 
can hardly be expected to give up the policy which for four 
years they have been endeavoring to make effective, in the ab- 
sence of substantial security that the system to be substituted 
for it is practically certain to be stable. If, owing to the rela- 
tive smallness of the area over which the bimetallic system is 
to be established, to the great divergence between the proposed 
ratio and the present gold price of silver, or to any other cause, 
the legal ratio were not maintained, the position of silver might 
be much worse than before, and the financial embarrassments of 
the Government of India greater than any with which they have 
as yet had to contend. 

These are arguments against the proposals as they stand of 
which it is impossible to deny the force. But even were they 
less strong than they appear to her Majesty's Government, or 
than they will probably appear to the representatives of the 
United States and France, the Government of India could hardly 
be compelled against their own decided opinions to make a 
second important change in Indian currency within so short a 
period as four years at a time of exceptional difficulty and 
suffering. 

In these circumstances her Majesty's Government feel it their 
duty to state that the first proposal of the United States repre- 
sentatives is one which they are unable to accept. Due consid- 
eration has also been given to the remaining proposals, but her 
Majesty's Government do not feel it to be necessary to discuss 
them at the present moment. The proposal respecting the In- 
dian mints was not only alluded to by the First Lord of the 
Treasury and the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the debate in 
the House of Commons of March 17, 1896, as by far the most 
important contribution which could be made by the British 
Empire towards any International agreement, with the object of 
securing " a stable monetary par of exchange between gold 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 675 

and silver," but it would also appear that the representatives 
of the United States and France entertain a similar opinion 
with regard to it. Her Majesty's Government are, therefore, 
desirous to ascertain how far the views of the American and 
French Governments are modified by the decision now arrived 
at, and whether they desire to proceed further with the negotia- 
tions at the present moment. It is possible that the time which 
has elapsed since the proposals were put forward in July last 
may have enabled the representatives of the two Governments 
concerned to form a more accurate estimate than was then prac- 
ticable of the amount of assistance which they may expect from 
other Powers, and of the success which their scheme is likely 
to attain. Her Majesty's Government might then be placed in 
a position to consider the subject with a fuller knowledge than 
they now possess of many circumstances materially affecting the 
proposals before them. 



In their response the Indian Viceroy and his Council gave 
many reasons for the rejection of the proposals, one of 
the principal of which was that the proposed ratio was too 
favorable to silver. The imposition of the ratio of 15^ to 1, 
while the actual market ratio was 35 to 1, would, it was con- 
tended, shatter, for the time at least, the export trade of 
India; would gravely affect the relations between the State 
as landlord and the cultivating classes; would diminish the 
receipts from the State railways, and would give a shock to 
commercial and social relations by a sudden and large in- 
crease in the value of the rupee from 16d. to 23c?., to be 
followed, in all probability, if the anticipations of the bi- 
metallists were not realized, by as rapid a fall, " probably to 
9d. or even lower." The whole cost and risk of the experi- 
ment would, it was contended, be, substantially, borne by 
India alone. The fact that France and the United States 
had a certain stock of gold on which they could rely if 
the new system were to break down, and which they would 
undoubtedly take measures to protect, was pointed out and 
made much of. But India, " reduced to a monometallic 
silver basis," would be unable to help herself. She could 
not hope to get back to her position by again closing the 
mints. Moreover, the change in prices to which France and 



676 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

the United States looked with hope would be injurious to 
India's commercial interests. 

They could not think that France and the United States 
would be likely with the help of India to be able to main- 
tain the relative value of the two metals at the ratio sug- 
gested. Only a general international union of all or most 
of the important countries of the world, they argued, could 
accomplish so much. Then a further doubt arose in the 
possibility of either Prance or the United States being re- 
duced for a time to a paper currency, when the agreement 
would cease to operate for an indefinite period. This they 
admitted would be of no importance in a union comprising 
all the important countries of the world, but could not be 
disregarded when only two or three were concerned. More- 
over, an agreement between two or three nations was open 
to much greater risk of termination than a wider union. 

The position was then taken that unless England was in 
full co-operation India could not see her way clear to enter 
the proposed union. On this point it was said : 

We believe, however, that whatever inducements are held out 
to us by other nations, our best policy in monetary matters is 
to link our system with that of Great Britain. Our commercial 
connections with that country are far more important than those 
with all the rest of the world put together, and more than a sixth 
part of our expenditure is incurred in that country and meas- 
ured in its currency. The advantages which in this respect we 
gain by following the lead of Great Britain are not obtained, or 
not fully obtained, if we become members of a monetary union 
in which Great Britain takes no part. And, indeed, as we have 
already explained, we have little hope of an efficient union being 
formed unless Great Britain is a member. We think it a rea- 
sonable position for us to take with regard to the present pro- 
posals by France and the United States, that we should say 
that the Government of India strove long and earnestly to 
further the formation of an International Union; that when 
they saw that the opposition of England rendered impossible 
the attainment of that object within any measurable time, they 
temporarily abandoned their efforts in that direction, and de- 
cided, as the least prejudicial of the courses open to them, to 
throw in their lot with Great Britain, and to adopt the gold 
standard; that, as it appears improbable that an effective union 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 677 

will be formed without the adhesion of Great Britain, and aa 
the measures adopted to introduce a gold standard in India are 
now approaching final success, they consider that it will be wis- 
est to adhere to the course adopted in 1893 until Great Britain 
is prepared to join in International Bimetallism; and that they 
therefore wish to adhere to the same monetary standard as 
Great Britain, with which nation they are most closely linked 
both in respect of their commercial relations and in all other 
respects, and to refrain from becoming a party to arrangements 
with other nations in which Great Britain sees ample reason 
for refusing to join. 

The despatch concluded: 

To sum up, our reply to your Lordship's reference is a strong 
recommendation that you should decline to give the understand- 
ing desired by France and the United States. Our unanimous 
and decided opinion is that it would be most unwise to reopen 
the mints as part of the proposed arrangements, especially at 
a time when we are to all appearance approaching the attain- 
ment of stability in exchange by the operation of our own 
isolated and independent action. 

Plainly, nothing was left to the American Commis- 
sioners but to discontinue negotiations. They recognized that 
without the opening of the mints of India it would be im- 
possible to obtain the co-operation of France, to say nothing 
of Germany and the other Powers, in the interest of silver 
coinage. They therefore decided upon an immediate return 
to the United States. This resolution was carried into 
effect and, sailing soon after the receipt of the communica- 
tion, they arrived early in November, 1897. The mission 
was of six months' duration. 

AFTERMATH 

That the failure of the mission was due to the mys-^ 
teriously potent money centres is now certain, and this 
influence was exerted unfavorably from the time the com- 
missioners set foot on British soil. Coincidently with the 
beginning of their work silver began a rapid decline, and 
down it continued to go until in a very short time it had 



678 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

reached the then unprecedentedly low price of 55% cents an 
ounce. 

Probably the exact means used for the accomplishment 
of the result never will be generally known, but the reason 
for the opposition is not so difficult of determination. There 
was but little effort on the part of the English press of 
the time to conceal it, as witness the following from the 
London Graphic of October 18, 1897: 

Gold may yet become current in India if the policy of 1895 
is boldly pursued. Then the single gold standard would rule 
throughout the Empire. That is our interest, but as producers 
and lenders of gold we are not going to throw it away in order 
to put money into the pockets of Colorado mine owners, or to 
help Mr. McKinley out of electioneering difficulties. 



with comments on the proposals of the Commission : 

" Every one who really knows English opinion must be 
aware that no Government that ever existed in this country 
could venture upon such an experiment, and that if any 
Minister were rash enough to propose it he would be in- 
stantly hurled from power." 

The reference by the Imperial Government to the Cal- 
cutta Viceroy in dealing with a question such as this is 
probably without precedent in British administration. The 
question of the Indian currency is pre-eminently a question 
for the Imperial Parliament, and the mouthpiece of that 
Parliament is the Secretary of State for India, not the Vice- 
roy and his Council in India. The event almost justifies a 
suspicion of bad faith somewhere in high places. 

The disappointment left Wolcott a changed man. His 
hope, amounting for a few weeks to a conviction that he 
had with such facility and expedition settled a question 
which had baffled all previous monetary conferences; which 
had led to one of the fiercest controversies of the century; 
which had come very near to disrupting both parties in 
the United States — this hope was shattered at a moment 
when he had the right to suppose that the goblet of suc- 
cess was at his very lips. It made the disappointment all 
the keener that the final reference to the Calcutta Govern- 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 679 

ment was really an afterthought of the Imperial Govern- 
ment, a matter of official or diplomatic courtesy. The 
Chancellor of the Exchequer had said to Wolcott on an 
afternoon soon after the conference: "I suppose that we 
should in a matter of this sort ask the views of the Indian Gov- 
ernment," but he left no doubt whatever in the mind of his 
auditor that the reference to Calcutta which elicited the de- 
spatch of disapproval was hardly more than a matter of form. 
To the student of history the entire course of events 
connected with the Wolcott Commission furnishes the mate- 
rial for perpetual surprises. The decision of the two Repub- 
lics that they would reopen their mints to silver if the great 
Indian dependency would revert to silver monometallism, 
was in the highest degree unexpected by the whole world of 
contemporary finance. Again, the Government of India was 
in the greatest straits. It was believed by all competent 
economists that just as the closing of the mints had been a 
colossal blunder, so also India would find it necessary to re- 
open them without waiting for outside help ; that the refusal 
to reconvert into money the silver ornaments of the peasantry 
at any time of famine must swell the death-rate immensely 
during these frequent and sinister visitations, and that by 
the full difference between the exchange value of the rupee 
and its bullion value the export trades of India were being 
crippled and reduced. In short, every Government of India 
since 1873 had been praying for just such outside support 
for silver as France and America had now offered. And 
yet, when the offer was made, it was refused in a despatch 
bristling with jejune fallacies in every paragraph. 

The surprise and disappointment were heart-breaking, and 
Wolcott returned home greatly depressed. Yet it is not 
improbable that his work may yet bear fruit. The pres- 
ent awakening of China is destined to prepare the way for 
a vast absorption of silver and for a great rise in its price, 
and when the moment comes, some offer linking on to that 
of 1897 may be made to the British Government, when wiser 
counsels may prevail. 

Though in great trouble over the result, it is fair to 
add that Wolcott never referred to the English Chan- 
cellor of the Exchequer without indicating high regard 



680 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

and appreciation. Sir Michael Hicks Beach was a mono- 
metallist of the straitest sect; he had the reputation in his 
own country of being a strong but essentially a narrow- 
minded official, steeped in Tory prejudice and stewed in 
Tory juice; but throughout these complicated negotiations 
the American Commission found the Chancellor not merely 
anxious to promote the desired co-operation of Great Britain 
and India, but prepared also to disregard, and on more than 
one occasion to disregard with expressions of contempt and 
disavowal, the ignorance and the obsession of so-called 
" City influences." The Chancellor of the Exchequer was 
aware, what even London's City Fathers are sometimes in- 
clined to forget, that silver is the money metal of some 
eight hundred millions of their smaller customers, and 
that, as this metal loses its value in exchange, so also the 
purchasing power of the Orient shrivels and shrinks with 
catastrophic consequences to British trade. 

There was, of course, much and varied comment by the 
American as well as the foreign press on the result of the 
mission. The gold-standard papers were pleased, and they 
did not hesitate so to express themselves. The more radical 
silver advocates had never believed England would yield, 
and their disappointment over the failure to obtain silver 
coinage was visibly tempered by their satisfaction at having 
their prophecies fulfilled. Probably as fair and impartial 
a statement as was printed in the United States was con- 
tained in the editorial comment of the Washington Post of 
October 24, 1897. In part the Post said : 

The Administration's course in the premises so far has been 
characterized by conscientiousness and good judgment. The St. 
Louis platform has properly been its guide of action. That 
platform committed the Republican party to an effort to reha- 
bilitate silver by international agreement. It did not pledge suc- 
cess to such an effort. It could not do that, because the question 
was recognized as a very difficult one. 

The Administration upon coming into power promptly took 
the subject up. But not without a protest here and there. In 
more than one quarter there was a feeling and an opinion was 
expressed that no action at all should follow. The cynical sug- 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 681 

gestion was made to treat the matter merely as a campaign 
promise without binding force in the day of success. The Ad- 
ministration vetoed this, and announced that the promise should 
be kept to the letter. 

Then came the question of procedure. It was decided to 
send a special commission abroad, and to select its members 
from the ranks of those known to be earnest advocates of bi- 
metallism. The country expressed the liveliest satisfaction with 
the three men chosen — all men of substance, experience, high 
position, and undoubted abilities. It was at once arranged to give 
them all the support that the leading American embassies abroad 
could afford. So equipped, with full support at home, and as- 
sistance provided for abroad, the special commissioners entered 
upon their work, and have carried it along with patience and 
tact and much dignity. They have found sympathy in France, 
and respectful attention even in England, and the sum of their 
knowledge as well as of the world's knowledge on the subject 
as it exists up to date has been enhanced. 

As the case stands to-day, therefore, the Administration has 
followed the line of the St. Louis platform, and the special com- 
missioners have followed the line of the Administration's instruc- 
tions. Difficulties in the way of accomplishing the end desired 
were known to exist, and they have been encountered. The 
commissioners will report the situation accurately, and it will 
then be for the Administration to determine its future steps. 

MR. WOLCOTT'S ACCOUNT OF THE MISSION 

Of all the opponents of the Commission in the Senate, 
probably Senator Allen of Nebraska and Senator Stewart 
of Nevada were the most pronounced. Soon after Mr. Wol- 
cott's return the Nebraska Senator took him to task on the 
floor of the Senate concerning the Commission. He was 
pressing for a report, and in the course of his speech ex- 
pressed the opinion that the $100,000 appropriated for the 
payment of the Commission's expenses had been " thrown 
away." 

Wolcott replied that if Allen would take the necessary 
time to investigate the accounts of the Commission, on file 
at the State Department, he would possibly correct the state- 
ment — a statement he had sent broadcast over the country 
and had " published in those patent insides in the West, 



682 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

which constitute the bone and sinew and most of the brain 
of the Populist party." He added that of the $100,000 appro- 
priated for the Commission but $16,000 had been spent. No 
member of the body had, he said, gone abroad except at 
the sacrifice of thousands of dollars of his own money. 
Continuing his reply, he said : 

The Senator from Nebraska says he always knew that any 
attempt to obtain international bimetallism would be a fail- 
ure. I suppose the sapient Senator from Nebraska and his 
fellow-Populists at some cross-roads in the western part of 
his State, who know where Europe is on the map and know 
but little else of the countries of the world, got together and 
determined that no country but the United States was intel- 
ligent enough to have ideas upon the money question. They were 
unaware of the fact that the great leaders of thought in England, 
in France, and in Germany were, for more than a generation be- 
fore the party of which the Senator from Nebraska is such a shin- 
ing light was ever heard of, bimetallists from conviction and from 
principle, and from that day to this they have preached it as 
the one doctrine that can bring prosperity to the people of the 
world and can advance civilization. 

On the 17th of January, 1898, Senator Wolcott made 
his official explanation of his mission to the Senate and 
the country. Like all his speeches, it was clear-cut and 
well expressed, but it was devoid of the spirit which was 
a marked characteristic of most of his speeches. This was 
due to the fact that he was reluctant to make the statement. 
He confided this fact to those nearest to him just before 
he began to talk. He did not like to speak of failures, and 
the non-success of his mission probably was one of the great- 
est disappointments of his life. He had been more hopeful 
of the result than any one had suspected, but, as he said 
on t lie floor of the Senate, the adverse reply of India to the 
note of the home Government concerning the opening of the 
Indian mints was " like a thunderbolt out of a clear sky 
to him." He had not counted upon opposition from that 
direction and had been quite unprepared for the blow when 
it fell. There also lingered within his breast the feeling 
that he had not received from the President's subordinates 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 683 

in the Administration that co-operation which he thought 
he should have had, and he especially felt that the then 
Secretary of State, John Sherman, of Ohio, as well as the 
Secretary of the Treasury, Hon. Lyman J. Gage, had been 
remiss in this respect. Indeed, he asserted that they had 
placed such obstacles in his path as greatly to embarrass 
his every effort in the negotiations. He mentioned Mr. Gage 
in his speech, but not Mr. Sherman. For a period he was 
quite bitter on account of their course. He became so nerv- 
ous that those who were connected with him at the Capitol 
found it pleasanter not to mention the subject of the mis- 
sion in his presence. In time, however, his buoyancy re- 
asserted itself, and he grew reconciled to the inevitable. 

In this speech he gave a detailed account of the work 
of the envoys, explaining how in the end only failure had 
resulted, and at the same time how near they had been to 
achieving success, a success which, if it had resulted, would 
have revolutionized the finances of the world and influenced 
for ages the affairs of all mankind. The various proposals, 
including the Huskisson plan (which was a silver bank 
reserve scheme), were outlined and explained. 

He gave the McKinley Administration credit for in the 
main assisting the work of the Commission, but severely 
criticised the utterances of Secretary Gage of the Treasury 
and of some of his subordinates. To President McKinley 
personally he awarded the highest praise, as he did to John 
Hay, American Ambassador to Great Britain. 

The attitude of France and -of Great Britain respectively 
was explained at length, and while there was much praise 
for the French, there was no censure for the English — not 
even for the authorities of India, to whose attitude failure 
was due. On this latter point, he said : 

I am sure that I violate no confidence when I say that the 
answer of the India Government protesting against reopening 
Indian mints was as much a surprise to the English Ministry 
as it was a disappointment to us. While the protest was not 
final and while the English Government in London could have 
overruled the objections from India, yet such action would have 
been contrary to all precedent. As a matter of fact, the home 
Government, it is said, unanimously upheld the report. 



684 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Frequent statements in our papers assert that the answer of 
India was dictated from London. It may be that the blind and 
unreasoning fury of the City of London directed against any 
suggestion of contributions or concessions to an international 
settlement of the currency question which should recognize silver, 
and which threatened a panic, and the overthrow of any ministry 
which attempted it, may have rendered the reply of the India 
Government not wholly unwelcome; but the policy outlined in 
the letter of September 16th, signed by the Viceroy and his 
associates, must stand as the deliberate and uninfluenced judg- 
ment of that Government. 

His peroration was an appeal for continued interna- 
tional effort in the interest of the double standard. 

Whatever differences of opinion may exist as to the ability 
of this country to maintain alone the parity between silver and 
gold [he said], there is no question that the concurrence of 
other nations would help and not hinder the cause of bimetal- 
lism in the United States, and efforts to secure it ought to 
receive the cordial support of every citizen who is opposed to 
gold monometallism. 

International bimetallism is not a myth, a chimera. The peo- 
ple of Europe are, even as we are, struggling to keep their heads 
above water and seeking blindly for that which may make for 
prosperity and for progress. The evils of falling prices and 
dearer gold bring poverty and disaster to them as to us. It is 
said that the influence of money grows year after year. So 
also does the influence of those great masses who toil from 
dawn till dark upon soil which God made rich and unwise laws 
of man can make profitless. 

With useless endeavor 

Forever, forever, 

Is Sisyphus rolling 

His stone up the mountain! 

And every year of added burdens and lessened prices swells 
the ranks of those who refuse longer to believe that over- 
production, cheaper transportation, and labor-saving inventions 
can account for the steady decline in values since the mints 
were closed, nearly a quarter of a century ago. Dollar wheat is 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 685 

dollar wheat the world over; but it does not tell the same story 
in France and Germany, where drought and flood have left only 
starvation in their wake, that it does here where the misfortunes 
of the Old World have brought prosperity to the New. 

Much of the recent legislation in Europe looking to the in- 
crease of gold holdings and the depreciation of silver, finds its 
origin in the exigencies of a situation where readiness for war 
is the paramount necessity. There is hardly a statesman in 
Europe who believes the last word has yet been said upon the 
question of the remonetization of silver, and hardly one who 
would not welcome an effort to settle the question internation- 
ally. Only a few days ago, just before Christmas, in a debate 
in the French Chamber, M. Meline again declared that the 
French Government was at one with the United States on the 
question of bimetallism. 

In the face of such a declaration it is as cowardly to abandon 
hope as it is false to talk about failure. International bimetal- 
lism is to the gold monometallist a stumbling block, and to 
the silver monometallist foolishness, but it is nevertheless a 
splendid possibility. Its accomplishment would be the greatest 
blessing that could befall our people, and to achieve it we might 
well afford to sink for the time the hostilities of party and the 
bickerings of faction. 

The English popular explanation of the conference was 
made by Sir Michael Hicks Beach, who, in a speech at 
Bristol, October 29, 1897, said: 

We consulted the Government of India. We gave them cer- 
tainly not too much time to consider this most important matter 
and to give us at adequate length their views in regard to it. 
Those views reached us in the despatch that has been made 
public. Now I should not like to bind myself to every state- 
ment or every argument in that despatch. I wish it had more 
clearly stated what are the reasons for which the Government 
of India believe that they will soon be able to make a gold 
standard effective in that country. But take the main argu- 
ments in the despatch, and bring them to bear upon the particular 
proposals which the United States and France have made. 
Speaking for myself, I certainly concur in those arguments and 
think that the Government of India was certainly right in re- 
jecting the proposal that was made to them. Now, I dare say 
that that view is not shared by all my colleagues. But this 



686 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

I may tell you, that, though some of them might not share the 
view, we were perfectly unanimous on this point, that it was 
impossible for us, in face of the views which the Government of 
India had expressed upon the particular proposals which had 
been made to them and of the nature of those proposals them- 
selves, to override the judgment of the Government of India on 
a matter primarily affecting the interests of India herself and 
to compel her to make a change in her coinage system a second 
time within four years. Therefore, we returned, as we felt bound 
to return, a negative answer to the United States and France 
with regard to that most important one of their proposals, without 
the acceptance of which it certainly did not appear to me that 
it was worth while considering any of the others which they 
submitted to us. 

In his message to Congress, delivered six weeks after 
the suspension of the Commission's labors, President McKin- 
ley seemed to entertain a hope that later the negotiations 
might be renewed with the possibility of better success, and 
Mr. Wolcott himself entertained the opinion that on another 
ratio, say 1 to 20, something might be accomplished. To 
make the record complete and to show the good faith of 
the President, his expression on the subject is here re- 
produced. The message bore date of December 6, 1897, and 
in it he said: 

The gratifying action of our great sister Republic of France, 
3, 1897, for the promotion of an international agreement respect- 
ing bimetallism, I appointed on the 14th day of April, 1897, 
Hon. Edward O. Wolcott, of Colorado, Hon. Adlai E. Steven- 
son, of Illinois, and Hon. Charles J. Paine, of Massachusetts, as 
special envoys to represent the United States. They have been 
diligent in their efforts to secure the concurrence and co-operation 
of European countries in the international settlement of the 
question, but up to this time have not been able to secure an 
agreement contemplated by their mission. 

The gratifying action of our great sister Republic of France 
in joining this country in an attempt to bring about an agree- 
ment among the principal commercial nations of Europe whereby 
a fixed and relative value between gold and silver shall be se- 
cured, furnishes assurance that we are not alone among the larger 
nations of the world in realizing the international character of 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 687 

the problem and in the desire of reaching some wise and prac- 
tical solution of it. The British Government has published a 
resume" of the steps taken jointly by the French ambassadors in 
London and the special envoys of the United States, with whom 
our Ambassador at London actively co-operated in the presenta- 
tion of this subject to Her Majesty's Government. This will be 
laid before Congress. 

Our special envoys have not made their final report, as further 
negotiations between the representatives of this Government and 
the Governments of other countries are pending and in contem- 
plation. They believe that doubts which have been raised in 
certain quarters respecting the position of maintaining the 
stability of the parity between the metals and kindred questions 
may yet be solved by further negotiations. 

Meanwhile it gives me satisfaction to state that the special 
envoys have already demonstrated their ability and fitness to 
deal with the subject, and it is to be earnestly hoped that their 
labors may result in an international agreement which will bring 
about recognition of both gold and silver as money upon such 
terms and with such safeguards as will secure the use of both 
metals upon a basis which shall work no injustice to any class 
of our citizens. 

At frequent intervals after his return to America, Mr. 
Wolcott engaged in discussion of the silver question both 
in and out of the Senate Chamber, always championing the 
cause of bimetallism, ever predicting the ultimate return to 
the system, and consistently defending the international 
movement as the only plan to insure that result. 

In an interview printed in the Washington Post of No- 
vember 16, 1899, eighteen months after the close of his 
mission to Europe, Mr. Wolcott expressed his conviction 
that international co-operation would be necessary to the 
restoration of silver coinage. 

" My views upon bimetallism do not change," he said, 
" but it is becoming perfectly evident that silver will never 
be restored to its parity by any act of the United States 
alone. When relief comes it will come through interna- 
tional action, and not otherwise." 

In a speech made in the Senate in support of a legis- 
lative affirmation in favor of the double standard, as late 
as February 12, 1900, he took occasion to refer to his mis- 



688 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

sion to Europe and then threw further light on the work of 
the envoys. In that speech he predicted reaction from the 
then prosperous conditions, when, he declared, " public in- 
terest will be again aroused to consider the wisdom of a 
policy which would do more than any other to ameliorate and 
lessen the hard times which seem the invariable attendant 
of our commercial life." The provision which he was advo- 
cating was an amendment to the pending bill, and concern- 
ing it he declared : 

The amendment, together with the law of 1897, creating a 
commission for negotiation with foreign governments, still in 
force, is in accord and in line with its former declarations, and 
furnishes to the United States their only hope for an honest 
effort toward a restoration of a parity between gold and silver. 
It is true there are doubt and hostility in certain quarters, but 
the great mass of the voters of the country are bimetallists, 
provided always bimetallism can be secured without impairment 
of the national credit. " Truth is the daughter of Time," and 
sooner or later, when other experiments have failed, the principle 
will secure adoption by the intelligent nations of the world. 

In this speech he took note of the then recent gold 
discoveries, but voiced the opinion that even with the vast 
additions the new mines were making to the world's stock 
of the yellow metal, silver still would be necessary to the 
proper transaction of business. On this point he said: 

If this great output of gold shall continue and increase, as 
it bids fair to do, it will go a long way toward making per- 
manent that general rise in values which is now bringing the 
world prosperity. But even so, Mr. President; if the Transvaal, 
when days of peace shall return in that region now devastated 
by war, should quadruple its output; if the Klondike and Cape 
Nome shall rival the Rand in wealth; and the wonderful gold 
production in Cripple Creek and throughout our mining regions 
continues and increases, as there is every reason to believe it 
will, it is still true that every civilized gold-using country which 
relies upon agriculture or which may compete with the silver- 
using countries in the labor employed in its mills and manufac- 
tories will still suffer great and destructive disadvantage until 
at some fair ratio the two metals again march side by side. 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 689 

Finding in the lapse of more than two years of time 
an excuse for a fuller revelation of some of the proceedings 
of the International Commission, he said : 



The position of France was that she was bimetallic, and that 
under no conceivable circumstances would she make a change 
in her financial system. Unless there were important concessions 
from England, including the opening of the Indian mints, France 
would not proceed further. 

There was another fact which lapse of time permits me to 
state without embarrassment to anybody, and that is the un- 
doubted fact that when our envoys— for there was no conference 
called — had their interviews with the English Ministry in the 
late summer of 1897, before the proposals which we had made 
were forwarded to India, the English Ministry were of the unani- 
mous opinion that the India authorities would quickly avail 
themselves of our offers, and that the result of our proposals 
would be the acceptance of them. That fact is as undoubted 
as any fact in existence. When people talk here of the futile 
efforts of the envoys, they little realize how near to the achieve- 
ment of success we came. 

There is one further fact of great importance in view 
of what I am going to say, and that is, I sincerely believe 
that if we had then been in a position, either in the summer 
before our proposals went to India, or afterward, upon their 
return, to negotiate with the English Government upon the basis 
of a change of ratio, not great, not enormous, but something of 
a change to meet the altered conditions, we might still then 
have come back with an agreement executed and not with fail- 
ure. But we were not at liberty so to do. The hostility that 
prevailed here would have prevented. 

Mr. President, it is undoubtedly true that our final success 
was perhaps neither furthered nor hindered by the attitudes and 
actions of parties and individuals on this side of the water. But 
there was nothing left undone by the extremists on both sides 
to injure and destroy our usefulness and the possibility of our 
success. 

I do not care again to refer to the action of Administration 
subordinates. Above them all was the President of the United 
States, and it is beyond any question that he, as well as the 
ambassadors abroad, cordially and zealously co-operated with 
the Commission, gave us a free hand and the fullest power. 



690 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Discussing at some length the attitude of what he termed 
the " Bryan Democracy " in opposition to the work of the 
Commission, Mr. Wolcott referred with feeling to the an- 
tagonism he had experienced in his own State, and added : 

I rejoice to say that there is a radical change taking place 
not only in Colorado, but in all the far Northwestern States. 
Our people are tired of hearing only a gospel of hate and sec- 
tionalism. We do not pay as much attention as we formerly 
did to the prophets of despair and doom, who are eternally 
warning us against the wrath to come, that somehow does 
not come. We are getting a glimmering shadow of an idea that 
if we want friendship, and prosperous communities, and capital 
for our marvellous resources, we are as apt to get them by 
maintaining cordial relations with the rest of the country, even 
if they do not fully agree with us on the silver question, as 
we are by bitter words and savage hate toward everybody who 
happens to differ with us; and that perhaps the cause of bi- 
metallism is not really furthered by an alliance with people who 
want to tear up railroads and tear down the Supreme Court, 
and whose principal mission seems to be to persuade mankind 
that they are on their way to the poorhouse. 

Life is not all cheerfulness and content; but some of it is, 
and we are going to take ours without waiting for Mr. Bryan, 
for he may not arrive. The black spectre of the " Crime of 
'73 " no longer walks abroad in Colorado and keeps us awake 
nights. It has gone " over the range," and we are coming out 
from the caves of gloom into the open sunshine of hope. 

Our Commonwealth is the richest in natural resources in the 
whole Union, but its chief value is in the fact that it lies 
in the heart of this great free Republic, one of an eternal 
brotherhood of States, linked together in one common and 
immortal destiny. 

He closed this memorable speech, his last in the Senate 
on the merits of the silver question, with a glowing predic- 
tion of a general return to bimetallism, declaring, however, 
that it could be brought about in this country only through 
the aid of the Republican party, " the party which has ever 
stood for the national honor and the national credit." 

When a few days later there was an effort in the Senate 
to alter the phraseology of the amendment so as to declare 
that " the people of the United States are in favor of bi- 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 691 

metallism," Mr. Wolcott opposed the change, not because 
he did not favor the broadest possible expression, but because 
his common sense told him that it was better to take what 
he could get, even though it was only partially satisfactory, 
than to hold out for what he could not get. 

Mr. President, if I could frame the language of this side of 
the Chamber respecting an amendment which reiterates and re- 
affirms the principles and policy of the Republican party as to 
the restoration of bimetallism, I should [he said] make it strong 
and vigorous and unqualified and earnest. I should probably 
add many phrases to the declaration as it appears in the amend- 
ment reported by the committee. But, Mr. President, I cannot 
make the language for the Committee on Finance; I cannot 
frame the language for this side of the Chamber. In good faith 
I accept the declarations of honorable Senators belonging to a 
party whose record is one of honor and not of dishonor; and 
when, to a man, they state on the floor of this Senate that 
they are believers in the principles of international bimetallism, 
that they stand ready to assist in bringing about the accom- 
plishment of that beneficent result, as an honest man I accept 
that statement and am grateful for that admission and that 
appendage to this bill respecting the currency. I accept it, Mr. 
President, because I know it is made in good faith. It may 
be, in the opinion of the Senator from Nebraska [Mr. Allen] 
puny and futile; it may be, in the opinion of the Senator from 
Missouri [Mr. Cockrell] humiliating and disgraceful; but it is 
enough for me and enough for any man who wants to be a 
Republican and is a bimetallist and wants to believe that the 
Republican party will not agree to the reopening of the Ameri- 
can mints at 16 to 1 without considering the wishes of any 
other country, but do stand ready to assist in bringing about, 
with the consent of the leading nations of the world, the restora- 
tion of the bimetallic system at some fair ratio. And because 
I believe that I accept it, and I am not going to be driven from 
my earnest desire as a Republican to stand with the committee 
and stand with the party by changes of phraseology, however 
specious or however attractive they may be. 

After returning from Europe Mr. Wolcott expressed a 
willingness to depart from the American and French ratios 
for silver and accept a wider margin, say 22 to 1 of gold. 
The low price of silver was responsible for this change of 



692 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

view. To Mr. Wolcott's practical mind silver at fifty-five 
cents an ounce was not worth as much gold as silver at 
twice that figure. The English bimetallists were behind 
this proposition and it develops that it was the subject of 
semi-diplomatic treatment. The suggestion contemplated the 
leaving out of France, which was not inclined to make any 
concessions on the ratio. The matter was presented to 
Secretary Hay, who, passing the proposition on to Mr. 
Wolcott, said in a note of October 10, 1898: 

What our friends in England would like to receive from us 
would be an assurance that we are ready to act, upon the open- 
ing of the Indian mints alone at something like 22 to 1, without 
regard to the action of France, and even in view of a positive 
refusal from that country. I am inclined to think that our 
Government is not ready to go quite so far as this. We should 
probably not pledge ourselves to act in spite of the refusal of 
France, and I doubt if we should care to commit ourselves posi- 
tively except with a fair chance of the adhesion of the French 
Government. I wish you would take a minute from your en- 
grossing occupations to tell me what you thing about it. 

Nothing came of the English suggestion, but the Secre- 
tary did not abandon his efforts as is shown by the following 
letter : 

Washington, April 19, 1899. 
My Dear Senator Wolcott: 

Understanding that you are about to visit Europe this summer, 
I take this occasion to say that I should be greatly obliged to 
you if, in the course of your travels, you could see and converse 
with some of the leading public men in England, France, and 
Germany in regard to the questions relating to currency, in 
which you were so much interested during your mission to Europe 
two years ago. 

You know better than any one else the attitude of public 
opinion in this country, and of the leading men of the Govern- 
ment in regard to the question of practical bimetallism, and I, 
therefore, need not repeat to you that it is not considered ex- 
pedient for the Government of the United States to reopen the 
subject at present. But the information which you might ac- 
quire as to the present point of view of some of the leading 
European States in regard to the matter could not but be use- 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 693 

ful to us all, and I hope you may find it convenient to give a 
little time and attention to the subject during the summer. 
I am 

Very sincerely yours, 

(Signed) John Hay. 
Hon. E. O. Wolcott, 

United States Senate. 

In his address in connection with the Wolcott Memorial 
Services held in Denver soon after the Senator's death, his 
intimate personal and political friend, Hon. A. M. Stevenson, 
dwelt at length and upon first-hand information on Mr. 
Wolcott's efforts in behalf of the white metal, and in a 
recent letter he has added somewhat to his previous remarks. 
These contributions throw so much light on the subject that 
liberal extracts are given. In his address, he said : 

Mr. Wolcott went to Washington thoroughly imbued with 
the ideas and sentiments of the people of the West, and espe- 
cially those of his own State, upon economic questions, and at 
once became a leader both in counsel and in debate upon all 
subjects connected with the monetary system of his country. He 
believed then that the free and unrestricted coinage of silver 
by the independent action of the United States was possible. 
His speeches in the Senate advocating this monetary policy will 
always be classed among the most convincing arguments in be- 
half of the double standard. He fought the fight until to con-, 
tinue the battle longer upon those lines, in his opinion, meant 
not only defeat, but more, the absolute certainty of accomplish- 
ing nothing for either his people at home or for silver as a 
money metal. He saw and realized long before the rest of us 
saw or realized that the inevitable result of a continuance of 
the struggle for free and unlimited coinage by the independent 
action of the United States meant defeat and failure, and he 
appreciated, as few Western men could appreciate, that some 
compromise must be accepted, or that legislation would be en- 
acted which would cast aside silver as a money metal, and debase 
it to an ordinary commodity of commerce; he knew what that 
meant to thousands of his constituents. His first home here 
had been a silver-mining camp and he had all the sympathy that 
a loyal Coloradoan could have for men who worked and delved 
in the silver mines of the State. He realized that if silver was 



694 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

cast aside, thousands of men throughout the entire West, and 
especially in Colorado, would be unemployed; that fortunes would 
be dissipated in a day, and that flourishing towns would be 
depopulated and their citizens left in want or driven from the 
State. 

What was he to do under these circumstances? Had he 
better act the part of a demagogue and continue the hopeless 
fight, certain of applause and popular approval at home, or 
should he do what he considered best for the people of Colo- 
rado? He was a statesman, brave and courageous, and chose 
the latter course. He determined to seek some middle ground 
upon which he hoped all could meet, and which he knew would 
be of lasting benefit to his own people and work no injury to 
the rest of the country. He tried with all his energy and abil- 
ity to convince his colleagues that at least American silver 
could be coined by the United States at a fixed ratio without 
danger of injury, and it is now to be regretted that in this 
masterful effort for Colorado he met with no encouragement at 
home. 

He soon learned that the contest had been carried on so long 
and the opposition to silver had become so strong that even the 
free coinage of American silver was an impossibility ; but he still 
refused to surrender unconditionally, and almost single-handed 
and alone he persuaded President McKinley during his first 
Administration to appoint a Monetary Commission, to visit the 
leading nations of Europe and try if possible to agree upon 
the relative value between gold and silver as money, with free 
mintage at a common ratio. 



The trouble with it all was that most of us were still hoping 
for i he impossible, and we did not see as the statesman, Wol- 
cott, saw, that it could not be accomplished. His broad-minded 
statesmanship disclosed to him the true situation long before 
silver was abandoned as money, and long before the conditions 
which exist to-day had been accomplished. He refused, against 
the wishes of a great majority of his people, to continue the 
hopeless fight for free and unrestricted coinage by the inde- 
pendent action of the United States, and tried to do something 
for their interests upon the lines that I have indicated. 

This was the cause of the unfortunate estrangement between 
Senator Wolcott and the majority of his party, and a majority 
of the people of his own State, in 1800. 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 695 

In a personal letter to the author dated October 8, 1909, 
Mr. Stevenson wrote: 

You will recall that Senator Teller and Senator Wolcott were 
never happy during the Harrison Administration. They both 
saw the tendency to adopt the gold standard and in addition to 
this they felt personally aggrieved at the President. Wolcott 
was then as devotedly attached to the cause of bimetallism as 
any other man in public life. 

During the Harrison Administration at a banquet given to 
Senators Teller and Wolcott at the Brown Hotel, Senator Wolcott 
stated that should the Republican party declare for the gold 
standard he should not be bound by its declaration. I am con- 
fident that he never changed in his devotion to the bimetallic 
principle and that his statement at the Brown Hotel was from 
his heart and sincere. But up to that time Wolcott had not 
been much of a student of monetary questions. It was after 
this time that he commenced to investigate, read, and study, and 
finally he came to the conclusion that the unrestricted coinage of 
silver at the ratio of 16 to 1 by the United States alone was 
something that could never happen; that it was impossible, and 
that the only hope for silver as a money metal was through 
an agreement between the principal nations for a limited coin- 
age at an agreed ratio. Wolcott therefore corresponded with the 
leading statesmen and financiers of England and the Continent 
and was encouraged to believe that he could bring about such 
a result. President McKinley promised to aid him in his efforts. 

Wolcott also became convinced that the Democratic party 
was not honestly for the free coinage of silver and that it was 
using the silver question to get votes, and he believed that if it 
ever again came into office the result would be a repetition of 
the Cleveland Administration. He was not wanting in proof 
of this idea even from Democratic sources. Some of his Demo- 
cratic friends in the Senate did not hesitate, in the cloak-room, 
to tell him that the Democratic party, if in power, would never 
enact a bill for the unrestricted coinage of silver. I have talked 
with him many times in a confidential way concerning these 
matters and I bear witness that his every action on the silver 
question was prompted by the highest and most patriotic mo- 
tives. He sincerely believed he was best serving the people 
of his State by the course he finally adopted. 



L'ENVOI 

THAT the efforts of Mr. Wolcott and his co-laborers in 
behalf of silver may yet bear fruit is the opinion of 
a growing number of thinkers, among whom are some 
Englishmen and Americans who have had especial reasons 
for studying conditions in the Orient. As the question pre- 
sents itself to them, it is one of trade and exchange rather 
than of coinage, and as such they find in it possible poten- 
tialities which were not in operation when the problem was 
under consideration in Mr. Wolcott's day, although he fore- 
saw that in time they would appear. One of these, a close 
observer of the times, a conservative Briton who enjoyed 
Mr. Wolcott's confidence and shared his views, has consented 
to prepare for this work an outline of the future possibilities 
as seen from the new view-point. Writing from London 
under date of July 11, 1910, he says: 

I suppose that what most we desire for the lives of our 
friends is the fruition, however long delayed, of the work on 
which those lives have been expended. The subject of these 
memoirs was capable of prodigious, though, too often of inter- 
mittent, energies; and there is no doubt that the impression he 
so nearly succeeded in stamping on his time, and the superscrip- 
tion which he chiefly desired to make to the pages of our his- 
tory, was some permanent settlement of the great problem of 
the currency. 

Strange though it may seem in view of the lethargy of public 
opinion since his death, the probability is growing from day 
to day that the great silver issue is again destined to emerge. 
Whether almost at once, or more probably a decade later, it is 
likely that the work of the Wolcott Commission yet will be 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 697 

extricated from the archives of the State Department and that 
on these foundations the world will yet clamber to safety. 

That silver is politically dead — this is essential to its resur- 
rection, if, as Professor Francis Walker declared, its unsolved 
problem is " a menace to our Western civilizations." 

The verdict of the historian will probably agree with Wolcott 
that in 1896 the Democratic party blundered out upon the po- 
litical stage, possessed of a great half-truth, but in an unwork- 
able platform, and that the ignorance of the masses of the 
electorate was not, and could not have been, leavened by a Presi- 
dential candidate whose knowledge of the question was so in- 
complete that only a very few years later he had apparently 
abandoned all interest in the issue. This is no unfriendly criti- 
cism of Mr. Bryan ; far from it. The men who, in all the world, 
had in 1896 any thorough conception of the ramifications of this 
question could have been numbered on the fingers of one hand. 
Nor either were they men in the limelight of politics anywhere; 
nor had they followers anywhere; nor, again, were they any- 
where in touch with the organs of the press in either hemisphere. 
Their voices, as of those who cry in the wilderness, would needs 
be listened for in bank parlors here and there in the far East: 
such men as Sir Thomas Jackson of the Hong-kong and Shanghai 
Bank, or Mr. T. H. Whitehead, the manager of the Bank of 
India and China. With Wolcott's death therefore it is not too 
much to say that the silver question temporarily disappeared, 
and monetary science as a science became not so much dis- 
credited as clean wiped off the slate. The leading reviews in 
Europe as in America had in the 'eighties and early 'nineties 
fairly bristled with the goose-quills of the professors, but for 
thirteen years after the debacle of the Wolcott Commission the 
entire subject was erased. 

But in the early months of 1907 there was again in waiting 
for the world of finance, had it but known it, a new and conclusive 
object-lesson in silver, and this, too, on a scale hitherto un- 
precedented. The coming twelve months were destined to dis- 
close the greatest collapse of all time in the world's history 
of the metal, a steady and continuous fall of some thirty- 
three per cent. Once again, as after the silver crisis in 
1893, the financial earthquake was such that the very proudest 
of the modern credit sky-scrapers were seen to totter to their 
fall. The wreckage is now removed, the atmosphere is clearing, 
and there to-day emerges in full sight of all men the great crisis 
in the exchanges. Men no longer talk of " silver," but they 



608 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

are none the less discussing everywhere the effect of its recent 
tremendous descent as governing all those Asiatic industries 
which, with fleet steamships and railway expansion at low rates, 
have started on a ruinous competition with the like industries 
of the white races. It would not be easy to subject this vast 
question to a compression more remarkable and more luminous 
than that of the Chinese Mandarin Tong Shoa Yi, the leader of 
the " Young China " party, who was himself educated at Columbia 
University. 

Writing to a well-known English bimetallist in February, 
1908, the Chinese Imperial Commissioner says: 

" In China fluctuations in exchange, such as those of last year, 
are of course very troublesome for our importing merchants; 
still no doubt last year's fall in silver greatly assists our mills 
and other manufacturing industries which might be damaged 
by the competition of imported foreign goods if the exchange 
rose. Thus the fall in exchange is even as an increasing tariff; 
but unlike a tariff our exports are not reduced, but are, so to 
speak, subsidized." 

This letter of the Chinese Imperial Envoy at once attracted 
the attention of Senator Henry M. Teller, who, having agreed 
to serve on the National Monetary Commission, wrote to a friend 
in England to enquire what " index numbers " of Oriental and 
especially of British India prices might be available to assist the 
new Commission. To guide his correspondent as to the direction 
given to his own mind by the Mandarin Tong, Senator Teller 
wrote : 

" Five gold dollars, or one sovereign, used to purchase three 
taels, and three taels formerly paid a day's wage to twenty-one 
Chinese mill-hands; while to-day five gold dollars purchase, not 
three, but eight taels, and eight taels pay a day's wage to sixty 
Chinese mill-hands." 

Meanwhile there had been, albeit all unknown either to Wash- 
ington or to Wall Street, a master mind attracted, nay magne- 
tized, by this great problem of Oriental competition as fostered 
by a low silver exchange. In the spring of 1909 it began to be 
rumored in New York that Mr. James J. Hill, the President of 
the Great Northern system of railroads, had the entire exchange 
situation under review. In July a short authorized interview 
with Mr. Hill appeared in the cable columns of the London Times. 

Mr. Hill said (Times, June 22d) : 

" We must await the proposals of the Monetary Commission 
at Washington. The silver problem is full of difficulty, and I 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 699 

wish it were possible to ignore it. Our Consuls in Asia warn 
us, however, that at the present rate of silver exchange Asia has 
ceased to import American wheat, lumber, or flour, and that the 
Shanghai merchant who eighteen months ago bought a sovereign 
with five taels must now pay nearly eight taels. The result is 
disaster; he no longer buys." 

The financial collapse of 1907 had sufficed to demonstrate the 
exchange crisis to the acute mind of Mr. Hill. But two years 
earlier the big Pacific steamships connecting with his vast sys- 
tem of railroads had been carrying to the East, from Puget 
Sound, wheat, lumber, and steel rails; but now, since the great 
fall in exchange, these ships were running to Shanghai empty 
and were returning filled with competing products of Chinese 
manufacture, such as pig-iron. Next a great steel rolling-mill 
with a capacity to roll four hundred tons a day had started at 
Hankau. Might not this perhaps be the very " menace to West- 
ern civilizations " which Professor Walker had adumbrated nearly 
twenty years earlier to a profoundly puzzled and skeptical world? 
Replying to a letter from Earl Grey, the Governor-General of 
Canada, Mr. Hill wrote as follows: 

" Great Northern Railway Building, Saint Paul, 
January 17, 1910. 

" My Dear Lord Grey: 

•' I must apologize for my delay in replying to your favor of 
the seventeenth ultimo. 

" Your letter expresses forcibly and accurately the practical 
effect of the fall in exchange with the Orient, not only upon its 
trade with the rest of the world, but upon domestic industrial 
conditions in those other countries as w T ell. I have expressed 
very briefly my opinion of the importance of the matter in an 
article on ' Oriental Trade,' published in the January number 
of The World's Work, a copy of which I take pleasure in sending 
you herewith. In addition to my own views I have quoted from 
a letter from Mr. Moreton Frewen, who has covered the subject 
exhaustively in a number of articles published within the last 
few years. Whatever one may think of Mr. Frewen's general 
theory of monetary standards, his discussion of the fall in ex- 
change and its economic consequences is quite valuable, being 
matter of fact and not all theory. 

" It seems to me that such facts as you cite, which are now 
becoming familiar in the experience of every country and are 
affecting profoundly industrial conditions throughout the world, 



700 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

call, as you say, for a ' good deal of scientific thinking.' Nor 
will it be easy to discover and agree upon a remedy. The ad- 
justment to each other of two civilizations differing not only in 
monetary standards and customs but in wages, hours, standards 
of living, industrial methods, and almost every physical and men- 
tal peculiarity that separates one race from another, is a slow 
and difficult process. It will not be accomplished without some 
cost to us. 

" It appears certain that, as long as the workers of the Orient 
are content to accept silver at par for their low wage, while 
the merchant and manufacturer can sell their products abroad 
for gold and turn it into silver at current rates of exchange, not 
only must exports to the Orient tend to decrease rather than 
increase; but it will presently become a question whether the 
markets of the rest of the world can be saved from a competi- 
tion stimulated by exchange conditions that we are powerless 
to control. 

" Undoubtedly this subject needs as much attention as is being 
bestowed upon the general rise of prices, with which it is con- 
nected. It is not understood or even mentioned in the discus- 
sions of our time. But it will presently force itself unpleasantly 
upon the notice of other countries, not only in their changing 
trade balances with the Orient, but in the appearance in their 
home markets of a competition with which they are unpre- 
pared to deal. The adoption of prohibitive tariffs against the 
Orient, which implies retaliation and the destruction of tbat 
trade; the reduction of standards of living and of wages in 
other countries until the difference between these and those of 
the Orient shall cover only the difference in efficiency of labor, 
and some form of agreement upon monetary standards and ratios 
that will equalize exchanges once more, are the only remedial 
measures that suggest themselves. The matter is becoming suf- 
ficiently urgent to call for their earnest consideration. 
" Faithfully yours, 

" (Signed) J as. J. Hill." 

From England, it is true, there is little to chronicle that 
affords any immediate encouragement. Here the deplorable dead- 
lock in politics and the rapid movement toward Protection at 
present holds the economic field. But the Government of India is 
understood to be much perplexed as to the operation of their novel 
" gold standard." May not their admitted tampering with the 
Indian currency be perhaps connected with the growing unrest 



LONG FIGHT FOR COINAGE OF SILVER 701 

of their people? And, again, will not the new Chinese cotton- 
mills, which have shown such a mushroom growth during the 
past two years in Shanghai and elsewhere, be likely to super- 
sede for the very consumption of India itself the fabrics of 
Bombay? May not India with "rated gold exchanges" lose 
not merely the Chinese market for cotton goods but her own 
market also? This is the opinion of Sir David Sassoon, the 
representative of immense financial interests in the great city 
of Bombay. 

Lord Desborough of Taplow Court, an intimate friend of 
Senator Wolcott's and now the President of the London Chamber 
of Commerce, has written a pamphlet on The Yellow Peril, which 
has focussed attention on the new exchange problem, with all 
of the racial significance that it involves. To revert to America 
again, it is known that, shortly before he died, Mr. Edward 
Harriman had declared himself to a friend " a good deal of a 
silver man," and that he had announced to one who is himself a 
master mind in finance, Mr. Otto Kahn, a partner in the great 
international banking house of Kuhn, Loeb, & Co., that the whole 
subject of silver in its relation to the awakening of China had 
become of the first importance to the United States. 

Such being the sporadic symptoms of our day, it is increas- 
ingly evident that important developments may not be very far 
ahead. Mr. Blaine once said, "No question is settled until it 
is settled aright." And if for the lack of proper settlement the 
Western nations are supplying Asia with all the weapons for 
their own destruction, then the silver question, at last under- 
stood, must again attract to its solution the wisest and the best 
minds of the civilized world. 



How completely in accord with the above is the follow- 
ing from Mr. Wolcott's own lips, dating back to 1900, and 
to be found in an interview published just after the 
November election of that year : 

In the general trend and growth of commerce and our 
commercial relations with other countries, especially if the 
Orient be opened to foreign commerce, the question of bimetal- 
lism will again be raised, probably by some of the nations of 
Europe. If it does again become matter for international dis- 
cussion, it will be through some policy approved by England, 
France, Germany, and the leading commercial nations of the 



702 EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT 

world, at some change of ratio, and under conditions which will 
secure an absolute parity of value at a fixed ratio between the 
two metals. The question has long ceased to be one which 
may be settled by the United States alone. 



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